


Duncan's Downward Spiral

by Introverted_Cupcake_x



Series: Downward Spiral [3]
Category: Bully (Video Games)
Genre: Boarding School, Bullworth Academy, Difficult Decisions, Friendship, G&G, Learning Disabilities, Love, M/M, Snitches, Swearing, alcoholic parent, i'm back bitches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-07-10 19:45:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15956228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Introverted_Cupcake_x/pseuds/Introverted_Cupcake_x
Summary: Thanks to an opportunity to return to Bullworth on Gord Vendome's recommendation, Duncan reenrolls as a student for his last chance to graduate with a high school diploma. But with strict conditions that he absolutely needs to meet at all costs, Duncan struggles to balance his school-social life as the schoolwork is proving difficult for his learning difficulties and his best friend Leon's reluctance to accept him going to the school that they were tormented in as kids, not to mention that his jobless alcoholic father is making his life more difficult as he also has to take up part-time jobs to pay for rent. But amongst his gruelling conditions and his PE teacher's insistence on him joining the soccer team, Duncan has to attend mandatory afterschool study sessions with no other than Cornelius Johnson, who reignites his passion and love for G&G.





	1. Return To Bullworth

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back, everybody!
> 
> After massively struggling with my mental health in August (birthdays always make me feel bad about myself) I decided after a long time to get around to writing my own original fantasy novel. Right now, I'm taking a brief break from that after outlining all the chapters for it, and hopefully writing this sequel in the Downward Spiral series will get my creative juices flowing.
> 
> And now, after much anticipation, I give you Duncan's Downward Spital!

# 

“Welcome back to Bullworth, boy,” Dr Crabblesnitch chuckles as Duncan stood there in front of his desk with a sheepish smile, wearing the astronomy club vest over his slightly-wrinkled white shirt. “I must say this is a surprise that you’ve come crawling back despite you leaving us a mess to deal with.”

“I was badly bullied, sir,” Duncan explained, suddenly depressed, “I had to leave or I’d hurt someone.”

“Nonsense!” the head boasted, “you’re bigger than you were before, you can easily defend yourself. However, you got exams at the end of the year and you have a LOT of schoolwork to catch up on in order to be prepared for the exams! If you pass this year, then you can finally graduate from Bullworth Academy with a degree! However…” he trailed off and the former dropout gulped. “When Gary Smith was institutionalised two years ago, his grandfather - a well-known benefactor - begged us to allow Smith to attend school and even threatened to take his scholarship money off us, but unfortunately for him, the money he gave me when Gary first enrolled was classed as a ‘gift’ and therefore couldn’t be retracted,” the headmaster laughed merrily. “So what to do with the leftover money? Invest it in ANOTHER bright young mind, and with Gord Vendome’s recommendation and gratefulness you have been chosen!”

Duncan’s chest swelled in pride at the name.

“BUT…” Dr Crabblesnitch said lightly, “the money has created a new unusual situation! With all the money given to us by Mr Smith, it would’ve been enough to last Gary Smith until the very end of his schooling. But because you’re 18 years old, you have until the end of this academic year to earn your High School Diploma, otherwise there’s no hope left for you in this world. Therefore, the money will pay off EVERYTHING you’ll need for your education with field trips, new uniform, food, even a stay in the dorm, textbooks, education itself… you have EVERYTHING on a silver platter for your pleasure.”

The re-enrolled young adult tried not to smile so much. This is truly a golden opportunity.

“What’s the ‘but’ for this situation?” he asked casually before stuttering. “I-I mean - conditions?”

“HAH,” Dr Crabblesnitch chuckled and sat back down in his armchair, “good foresight, young man. Yes, I do ask of a few things that you must stick to in order to enjoy your ‘free’ education and room and board. One; absolutely NO fighting anyone. Two; no causing trouble. Three: No lateness or absence without reason. Am I clear?”

Duncan frowned but remembered what Bullworth Academy is like.

“But sir--”

“Also,” Dr Crabblesnitch interrupted, “I’ve told the prefects and faculty about your return to education and we have special measures in place to keep a strict eye on you, which is why that if I hear a SINGLE complaint about you, then you’re out. You have no warnings and no more chances. If you disagree, then walk out now.”

“I agree,” Duncan reluctantly muttered and the head put his hand to his ear, raising an eyebrow. He coughed and spoke more clearly, “I agree, sir. I’ll be on my best behaviour and graduate.”

“Excellent!” he said firmly and clapped his hands before handing over a thick envelope to the new kid. “Your class schedule is in here along with all the extracurricular lessons that are mandatory to attend. You have them every weekday after school finishes and attendance WILL be recorded.”

_ ‘Dammit,’  _ Duncan thought grimly and opened the envelope, seeing a thick wad of papers inside. “There’s a lot of papers for a simple schedule, sir.”

“There are forms in there that you must fill out and give to Miss Peabody in the infirmary as well as permission slips for your parents or guardians to fill in regarding any trips in the future.”

_ ‘Fuck,’ _ Duncan’s mind sighed, _ ‘I better ask when dad’s drunk out of his mind.’ _

“One last thing,” Dr Crabblesnitch spoke up with a frown, looking at Duncan’s old uniform which isn’t in the best condition for something that hasn’t been worn or cleaned in years. His black trouser legs don’t even reach past his calves. “Now would be a good time to buy yourself a new uniform. The shop should be open but hurry along and get yourself a proper uniform. You’re dismissed.”

* * *

 

The second Duncan stepped outside the reception area, he was greeted by a familiar face that made him smile like a goof. Gord.

“Hello, there,” he said. Behind him, Vance waved and wound an arm around his shoulders. Gord grinned. “I take it you’re properly reinstated?”

“Heck yeah!” Duncan replied enthusiastically, “thing is, I gotta get a new uniform.” Vance winced.

“Damn, won’t that be expensive?”

“Yeah, but I got enough money from the scholarship fund to last me for this year,” Duncan shrugged. Vance broke contact with Gord to give him a fist-bump before gripping his hand to shake it.

“Great to have you in school, pal,” Vance said excitedly, “wanna grab some burgers after you get your uniform for a real celebration?”

“Actually…” Duncan frown and he opened his envelope, tugging out a sheet of his timetable and another with extra classes. “Dr Crabblesnitch gave me conditions that I gotta follow otherwise I’m expelled. I can’t get into fights, I can’t cause fights and I can’t be late for any classes. He also said I gotta take these extra classes too, which sucks but I agreed to do ‘em.” Gord and Vance peeked at the sheet in his hand and groaned.

“Makeup classes until 6pm?” Vance exclaimed in shock, “that’s rough! How’re you gonna have time to do homework?”

“Uh…” Duncan peered at the sheet, “oh, wait, I got two hours of makeup classes, but the one from 5 til 6 is homework study. I think that’s because I got learning difficulties and it’s to help me.”

“Weren’t you a nerd?” Gord wondered.

“I WAS, but I guess not being in education for so long made me stupid,” Duncan shivered. “I guess I have to start all over from being a dunce.”

“No problem!” Vance said brightly, “you still got Saturdays and Sundays free, eh?”

“I do, actually,” the brunette smiled, “I get to hang out with you guys at long last.”

“Although we may be busy, we’re in the same dorm,” Gord hummed and stopped when his eyes roamed down the paper and pointed at something he saw. “It says here that you have another condition to meet.” Duncan groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Oh, fuck. What is it? Do I need to do a backflip while wheelchair-bound?”

“No,” Gord said in surprise, “it says you’re to obtain a buddy to help you study in the homework sessions, and Cornelius’s name has been written here.” The new boy felt his heart slip and quickly looked, rereading the whole paragraph to make sure he’s not making it up.

“No way!” he gasped, growing pink, “that guy! The G&G collector!” He didn’t notice Gord and Vance share knowing smirks. “That bloody nerd! He had the NERVE to lecture me for handling that card wrong! It was in its sleeve! It wasn’t going to get smudged!”

“He’s in the library if you need him,” Vance snorted. “He’s weird, so don’t throw him in the trashcan.”

“That’s right, I can’t do ANYTHING fun!” Duncan complained and shoved the papers in the envelope. “I might as well steal textbooks and read them at home instead of just coming here. School is great, but…” They all made eye contact and nodded grimly.

“Bullworth,” they said simultaneously.

At that moment, the bell went off and students began to run to their classes.

“Fuck!” Duncan swore and almost dropped his papers to find his timetable for the term. “GYM. DAMMIT! I’m gonna be late! I don’t even have my kit and now I’m gonna get kicked out--” Gord raised his hands.

“Just chill. They have a spare kit cupboard in the locker room.”

“Yeah, UNWASHED clothes,” Vance tried not to snort and his boyfriend shot him a look.

“I’d rather run naked than wear spares!” Duncan moaned, slapping his own forehead. “Sorry, guys, gotta bounce. See you later.”

“Duncan!” Vance spoke up and he looked at him, giving him a smile. “Welcome back to Bullworth.”

* * *

 

Duncan tried not to remember the bullying he endured when he used to be 4’10” tall. Despite running inside the gym and feeling his mind shrink at the imposing building, the sight of Davis White drained the blood from his face and turn his feet to lead, which in turn made him slip on the gravel and he quickly held onto someone else by accident. They brushed him off with a yell and then carried on. However, Davis was just leaning against the brickwork smoking and laughing with Mandy instead of going into class. The brunette ignored him, stalking past as quickly as possible, but was surprised that he didn’t shout after him. He glanced back, seeing Davis completely acting like he’s invisible.

_ ‘Maybe that’s a good thing,’ _ he thought and entered the building, _ ‘if he can’t remember me, then he won’t bully me again, then I won’t need to defend myself and have it turned against me.’ _

To his surprise, a large woman glanced his way and shouted; “Come on, new kid! Get ready! Spare kit’s in the locker room!”

“Uh… Where is Mr Burton?” Duncan asked.

“Oh, him?” the woman rolled her eyes, “he was sacked. He got into trouble with the police on sexual offences. Good riddance, too!”

“Agreed!” Duncan exclaimed and left, running to the locker room where half his class already got changed and laughing and joking around.

Nervously, he slunk to the far corner where he spotted the spare kit box, grimacing at the offending scent of unwashed scents in the mix of shirts, clothes and shoes. Even socks were included in there! Why would you need to fork out $50 for a pair of white socks with the school embroidery on when you can just buy a plain pair for $5 from the thrift store?

A loud whistle screeched just as Duncan tugged out the clothes closest in size to him and changed as fast as he could.

* * *

 

“About time!” the woman shouted as Duncan skipped up the steps and joined the group, internally groaning. “Another 10 seconds and I would have put you down as late, then you’d be expelled!”

Duncan gulped as murmurs rippled through the gym.

“That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?” someone muttered and the woman with the beehive-style black hair pointed a whip at them.

“Anything you want to share, Olsen?”

“N-no, Ms Eclaire!” Kirby stuttered, standing up as straight as a board.

“Good!” the bulky woman nodded, “welcome to the first day of the new year, comrades. I trust you all had a fun 3-month holiday relaxing on your backsides? Well, that’s about to change because I am going to put together Bullworth’s first soccer team in 30 years to enter the annual tournament that will be hosted here!”

Groans and dissatisfaction aired and Duncan glanced about.

_ ‘Just soccer? I know it ain’t our national sport, but it’s still a good sport,’  _ he wondered.  _ ‘What’s their problem?’ _

“But, miss!” one of the guys, Dan, cried out, “why would you do this to us? You said you’d make a real dodgeball team!”

“Change of plans,” Ms Eclaire said curtly, “there’s already a dodgeball team formed and the headmaster did not have the good grace to tell me - the Gym teacher - about it right until yesterday when I put my plans forward. So it’s either we have no team and laze about like lunatics, or we put together a soccer team and give Bullworth a chance to win an actual tournament! Now!” She raised her voice, which filled every crevice in the building. “TO THE FIELD! 5 LAPS! ON THE DOUBLE!”

The all-male class obeyed her, immediately scrambling out the door and into the fresh air.

But to Duncan, everything is going too fast. Too blurred. He hasn’t done this much physical exercise in years. He’s already panting before they reached the field, feeling like the odd one out. Thankfully the soft cushion of the grass gave his weary feet in the tight trainers gave him mild relief, but his heart sunk the further the groups ahead of him advanced away, leaving him in the dust.

“DUNCAN - CHIN UP!” He almost jumped and looked back to see Ms Eclaire with a megaphone. “CHEST OUT, PICK YOUR KNEES UP AND KEEP BREATHING!”

_ ‘Oh, god!’ _ he groans mentally,  _ ‘my body’s going to be so sore after this!’ _

Despite it being a sunny day, there’s a noticeable chill in the air, one that is promising to shower the Bullworth geographical area with dried leaves and rain. Duncan dreaded this kind of weather, feeling his chest tighten the more he ran out here and his breaths became no more than pathetic wheezes like a sick kitten. Worse, he’s only run one full lap while everyone else are a full 2 laps ahead of him. Some gave him odd looks, breezing past him like fresh daisies until he felt his legs turn to jelly and he almost collapsed, settling to kneel down for a minute.

“GET UP, NEW KID!” his teacher ranted into her megaphone despite being 10 feet away from him. “YOU’VE ONLY DONE 1 LAP!”

_ ‘Can’t cause trouble, can’t cause trouble…’  _ Duncan coughed and forced himself to his feet, starting to run rather than walk. The sooner he gets this over and done with, the sooner he can sleep…

By the time he finished his 5th lap, his body collapsed with quick and shallow wheezes. Everybody else drank water and threw remarks about his lack of fitness, but Ms Eclaire sighed impatiently and stepped over him. Seeing her, he mentally braced himself for an earful, but instead...

“Are you asthmatic?”

“What?” he muttered through gasps, sitting on his backside.

“Breathing problems?”

“I don’t think so, Ms Eclaire,” Duncan answered before suddenly sputtering and coughing, sharply inhaling the air and going redder.

“Any allergies?” she asked, surprisingly patient. He expects her to snap at him anytime now. “Because you’re coughing and your eyes are running.”

“I-it’s the grass, miss,” he mumbled, “it’s been cut, innit? Trimmings get me.”

The woman nodded and walked away, talking to Kirby and they left together to the clubhouse to fetch some equipment. Meanwhile, Duncan finally calmed down, feeling sweet, sweet relief. Until Ms Eclaire returned, dragging along a huge net bag full of soccer balls and spilt them over the grass, bouncing and rolling away.

“Alright, everyone, time for some dribbling exercise!” she announced, “I want you all to grab a ball each, and dribble it from one end of the field to the other.” She pointed over at Kirby as he laid down cones on the white line. “You are to dribbed AROUND the cones and then travel back to the starting position! I’m not expecting y’all to become David Beckhams in one Gym class, but do your best. Everybody will be timed in a collective manner so the clock will only stop when the last person gets to the line. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Everybody cried out, standing straight and she grinned.

“Excellent! Then get going and wait by the line until my mark!”

Obediently, the males picked out a ball, Duncan included. He may find her hard-nosed, but at least she’s friendlier than Mr Burton. And oddly attractive.

Like with the laps, Duncan was last to get to the line. Then worry set in. What if he’s slow at this?

“On your marks!”

Oh boy, doubt is setting in hard.

“Get set!”

Duncan’s chest trembled again but remembered to calm down. He won’t be expelled for being slow.

“Go!”

At the cry, everybody charged, but already lots of footballs went too far and strayed onto the path of other players. Some shoving happened and swears and Duncan managed to avoid getting whacked by a punch from Luis when he missed Bucky.

A whistled shrieked and everybody stumbled to a halt, looking like a collective mess. Only Duncan made it to the halfway line, looking back in shock. Ms Eclaire was pinching her nose.

“WHAT WAS THAT?” she yelled, gesturing at all the stray balls. “WHAT WAS GOING ON?! EVERYBODY, COME HERE RIGHT NOW, LEAVE YOUR BALLS! DOUBLE-TIME!”

The guys all grumbled, approaching her as she crossed her arms.

“Backs straight!” she snaps and they tensed. “Poor posture will lead to poor back condition! Do you want to ruin your backs before you even hit your 20s? No! You are all young and fit and you still have a long way to go, but don’t destroy the road before you with carelessness before you could even set foot on it!” She took a deep breath, waving her horsewhip each person, stopping at Duncan. “Duncan is the only person so far to actually HAVE some coordination despite having the lungs of a kitten! Speed is integral in football, but do any of you know what is important in soccer?”

The guys glanced at each other, murmuring and a hand hesitantly rose. Sheldon.

“Control of the ball?”

“EXACTLY!” Ms Eclaire screeched and they flinched, “CONTROL. It’s no use kicking the ball randomly and hoping that your teammates will receive it from the other side of the field! They will be too busy marking the oppositions’ players to give a shit about your crappy control!” She looked at Duncan again, who is feeling glad about this momentary break to get his breath back. “Duncan - do you play soccer?”

“Not exactly…”

“Yes or no, Duncan?”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” he stuttered.

“And do you practice penalty shootouts?”

Duncan thought of himself and Leon playing with a burst football as kids. It really was about kicking the ball at the cans on top of the fence just to piss off the old man next door to him.

“Yes, Ms Eclaire. And passing too.”

The memory of Leon’s grin shone in his mind as he successfully headed a ball into their makeshift goal of two trashcans. A memory marred with his father smacking his head and dragging him back to the caravan because Leon’s mom was an ex-girlfriend of his and he didn’t want Duncan to play with a kid who was passed off as his first son to keep him from leaving her.

“Duncan?” Ms Eclaire frowned, and the buzz-shaven guy snapped to attention. How long has he daydreamed?

“Yes, Ms Eclaire!” he exclaimed.

“See, everyone?” she laughed, “at least we have one person here who plays soccer.”

“It’s casual!” Duncan quickly spoke up, “I don’t play THAT much!”

“Ah,” the woman tapped her nose, “but soccer is like riding a bike - you never forget how to play. Now back to the line, you lot, and for now you can be as slow as possible so that next lesson it’ll be easier to beat the current record.”

Thankfully, Gym was over before Duncan knew it, and he’s in the changing room relaxing knowing that he only has a few more hours of lessons before he can go to homework study and take a nap. He waited until the showers were free and stepped inside a cubicle, practically melting as the hot water hit his skin and he moaned lightly.

“Keep it down in there!” someone chortled outside the curtain, “unless Trent’s in there with you!”

Duncan rolled his eyes. “I’ll keep it down as soon as you lot can control a ball!”

“What did you just say?” an angry voice asked.

“I SAID--” Duncan suddenly spluttered, coughing into his hand and feeling his eyes water. Someone’s wearing strong cologne, and it’s not the kind that’s subtle. “Hey, who sprayed a whole bottle of perfume in here?!”

The conversations changed and Duncan sighed in relief, grabbing his towel and walking out. Whoever started at him must’ve forgotten to further pursue an argument. Good thing too, because half of his class left already whilst smelling like whoever excessively sprayed themselves with cologne.

_ ‘Hot showers, I love you so much,’ _ the former dropout smiled to himself happily, getting dressed into his uniform again but inwardly grimacing at the wrinkles… He patted his cheeks in annoyance. _ ‘Stop thinking like a rich kid! Nobody ain’t gonna care that your clothes are rumpled!’ _

* * *

 

To his surprise as he left the gym, he came face-to-face with a familiar friend - leaning against the wall, sun beaming down on his dark skin stood Leon with a cigarette hanging from his lips.

“Hey, Dunc!” he greeted him, dropping the cig and stomping on it, “thought I’d come to see ya.”

“Hey, Leon!” Duncan’s voice picked in elation, hurrying over to him, “what’s up? I gotta run to class in 10 but I can still talk.” Leon rolled his eyes.

“Boring!” he spat, “can’t you skip this class?”

A week ago, Duncan would’ve just said ‘yes!’ and then wander off to vandalise cars in New Coventry, however, he remembered his commitments with a sigh. Leon raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I can’t,” Duncan muttered, “I made an agreement with Dr Crabblesnitch that I absolutely must not miss any classes otherwise I’ll be expelled.”

“Fuck!” Leon groaned, “screw the rules!”

“I can’t do that either,” I grumble. “And the teachers and prefects have been told to keep an eye on me too, so I’m fucked.” Leon huffed and bumped his shoulder against his in a friendly manner.

“Why are you going through all this shit anyway? This place is a dump!”

“I-I’ve actually always wanted to come back here,” Duncan admitted and his friend looked at him like shit just poured from his nostrils.

“You what?” he spluttered, facing him, “you WANT to come back here?”

“Well I’m here now,” the brunette chuckled, but Leon didn’t see the funny side of it and snarled.

“What has this school ever done for us guys back in Blue Skies? Jack shit, that’s what!” he burst, “they treated us like scum just like those idiot preps!” A nerve twinged in the other’s forehead as he frowns at him.

“Hey, come on, man, not all of them are bad. Gord, for example--”

“--Is a tosser!” Leon rudely finished before noticing Sheldon nearby gawping at them. The dropout hissed and gave him the middle finger

“I’m gonna tell on you!” the brat yelled, charging off and the dark-haired young man spat at the ground where he stood before.

“I DON’T EVEN GO TO THIS FUCKING SCHOOL!” he screeched and Duncan quickly held his shoulder.

“Calm down, dude!” he snapped, “and you better go before they call the cops on you for trespassing. You shouldn’t even be here in the first place.”

Leon just fixed a long hard look on him before nodding. “You’re right. The same goes for you too.” Then he slouched off, disappearing around the corner and towards the football field knowing about a few shortcuts from there to Blue Skies. Groaning, Duncan trudged off in the opposite direction with Geography in mind.

* * *

 

At least he made it with 5 minutes to spare, but he didn’t want to take any risks. From now on, no more close calls otherwise his heart will give out.

The door is still locked and he is the only one standing there by the classroom nearest to the school shop where the disgruntled janitor is currently inside, grumbling away to himself about ‘evil plans’ and ‘spoiled kids getting what's coming to them.’ Duncan tried his best to ignore him while looking around at students passing him. He noticed a lot of new faces as well as familiar ones who used to be in his form group before his expulsion. Some didn’t even pay him any attention whilst a few did with whispers, no doubt readying to fuel the rumour machine.

“Excuse me? Aren’t you Duncan?” a voice piped up and he spun to see a black student wearing the same uniform style as him. It immediately hit him who he was.

“You’re… Corny?” Duncan blinks and the guy burst out laughing.

“Only my friends call me that!” he chuckles, wiping his glasses, “close, but I’m Cornelius. I understand that I’m assigned to you as your homework buddy?”

“Yeah, you are,” Duncan nodded blankly, “so… hi.”

“Hi…?”

“It’s been a while,” he added, suddenly feeling self-conscious of how his shirt looks, “ah, and I’m gonna get a new uniform soon, so don’t take this the wrong way.”

“But I’m not?” Cornelius says unsurely, peering at his vest, “although I shouldn’t be surprised considering your test scores.”

Duncan froze. “What test scores?"

“You know!” the nerd’s voice rose… in excitement? “I ran a background check on you and before you dropped out, you were the brightest mind to ever grace Bullworth!” The former dropout moaned and facepalmed, shaking his head.

“PLEASE don’t point that out to other people! I don’t want to be a walking target again!”

“I figured,” Cornelius shrugs, “I mean, men like us who are blessed with intelligence are looked down upon, BUT-” he put his hand on his shoulder and Duncan stared at him, “-you’re even luckier to have brains AND brawn so people can hire you for bodyguard work!” The brunette shook his head, regretfully pushing the hand away.

“I can’t,” he sighed heavily, “I agreed with Dr Crabblesnitch that I can’t miss a class or get into fights otherwise I’ll be expelled. No second chances. I just want to graduate and become someone who isn’t my dad.”

“I get it,” Cornelius murmured, watching him before holding his shoulder again and his shocked gaze met his. “In that case, I will assist you! Also because assisting a disadvantaged student will make my resume look good.” His classmate rolled his eyes, but with a small smile. Suddenly nervous, the nerd fumbled in his pocket to pluck out what looks like a packet of gum. “Gum isn’t allowed in school, but what do you say we go to the school gates and chew these there to break the ice?”

Amongst the chatter of the academy, Duncan’s brown eyes stared at him and the unopened packet of gum before accepting it and suddenly laughing.

“Deal.”

And instead of excitement like he thought he’d feel Cornelius only choked on his own spit, but Duncan was too preoccupied entering the classroom just as the bell went off.


	2. Chapter 2

“Thank FUCK that’s over!” Duncan complained the second he stepped out the classroom, “I forgot how boring Geography was.”

“At least there’s no homework,” Cornelius winked at him, “our teacher tend to not bother unless it’s for coursework reasons. Plus he gets bribed by the preps to not give unnecessary work to us.”

“Sweet,” the other male nodded, “so, uh…” He checked the time on his ratty watch with a small sigh. “Guess I got homework study until 6pm in half an hour.”

“Oh, in that case!” the nerd spoke up quickly, “if you have time, maybe we could go to the gates like I suggested earlier? They’ll be closed until the end of October but they make a good hangout point.”

As if on cue, Duncan’s stomach growled loudly and a couple of passing kids stared at him before hurrying on. Cornelius tried not to snort.

“The cafeteria will still be open if you can stomach leftovers and day-old cooked meat.”

“You kidding?” Duncan’s eyes went huge, “COOKED meat? I’m game! Let’s go!”

The cafeteria is mercifully empty save for Edna and the pair as Duncan grabbed a tray, helping himself to as much food as he could fit onto the plate. Soggy vegetables, suspicious meat, papery mashed potato, burnt roast potatoes…

“Woah, ease up!” Cornelius gulped, but Duncan didn’t stop his enthusiastic food-picking. Seeing Edna applying lipstick a few feet away, he drops his voice to a whisper. “Small amounts are safe, but too much can land you in hospital!”

“Can’t be expelled if I’m hospitalised,” Duncan said cheerfully before moving to sit down, “aren’t you hungry?”

“N-no,” the nerd bumbled and forced himself to sit opposite him, watching with a debilitating sense of fear as Duncan began practically shoving the food down his mouth. “D-don’t you live off-campus?”

“Yeaf,” he nodded, mash spilling from the corners of his lips, “wi’ meh dah…” He swallowed and licked his lips, eyes almost rolling to the back of his face. “God DAMN this is delicious! Edna!” His voice rose and the woman peeked out the window at him with a frown. “This is blooming gorgeous!” A look of surprise coloured her face as she slunk back into the kitchen to peer at the slab of meat that came from roadkill and poked it with a spatula, only to shrug and drop it back on the counter.

Meanwhile, Cornelius watched whilst equal parts terrified and fascinated for Duncan’s stomach as he rested his arms on the table while they conversed (more muffled complaining on the ex-dropout’s part) up until a voice squeaked up and Algie approached them.

“Cornelius! The meeting’s on at the library and you’re going to be late!” he whined before peering at Duncan, still horking down his food, and raised an eyebrow. “Who are YOU?”

Clearing his throat, disappointed that he couldn’t savour that one sliver of oil-burnt meat with sweetcorn that tasted sour, he answered: “Duncan. I’m due for homework study in the library in ten minutes with Cornelius until six.” Algie’s voice almost reached choir-level shrieking as shot his fellow nerd a look of horror.

“Is this true?!” he yelled, “how could you do this, Corny?! This guy is bad news! The rumours have been spreading about him setting the gym on fire two years ago!” Duncan glared at him, almost slamming his fork and knife down.

“Okay, FYI: that was Gurney, not me!” he protested, “and secondly: my homework study is mandated by Dr Crabblesnitch himself so I CAN’T not attend it without Cornelius as he’s my designated study buddy!”

“You’ve got to be kidding!” the larger boy groaned, looking at Cornelius who only nodded with pride.

“I actually put my name down on the volunteer list for the Bullworth Academy Good Deed Scheme and I got picked for this job! Just think of the social credits I’ll get for helping the disadvantaged!” But Algie’s whining grew more high-pitched.

“But you’re the Bard for our campaigns! We can’t achieve missions without you!”

“G&G?” Duncan spoke up with some meat hanging from his mouth and Cornelius sighed with a nod before turning to Algie and standing up.

“Algie, I love G&G, but mom’s getting pissed off at me for not spending my spare time more wisely. She wanted me to do something useful, so I CHOSE to do this so that I can still be in the library.” For the first time since he sat down, Duncan stopped eating with a frown and looked up with a sneaking suspicion. “I can only do so much to be Duncan’s study buddy, so that when he doesn’t need my help, we can resume gameplay the next table over.” But even he can see the growing disdain in Algie’s face.

“Interrupting our gameplay will ruin it!”

“At least I’ll be around!” Cornelius protested, “I’ll make up for it by bringing some loot.” Algie raised his hand to speak, but raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

“What kind of loot?”

“Uh…” the other male blinked as he quickly thought of an idea, dropping his voice to a whisper, “I will bring thee the treasured loot of the Crabblesnitch Trove!” Algie’s eyes almost left his eye sockets as he gasped loudly.

“It is not worth the risk!” he whispered quickly, but Duncan observed the steeled determination in Cornelius’s face. “You can’t!”

“I can and I will if it means that you and the gang allow me some flexibility!” he exclaimed.

Algie groaned, but nodded. “Fine! But if anyone asks, we never spoke about this! Bring the loot to my room before midnight!” And hobbled off.

Cornelius sat down, clearly shaking all over while his hand clenched into a fist.

“What’s that you were talking about?”

“Rumour has it…” Cornelius inhaled and leaned over the table to whisper, “...that Miss Danvers buys extremely expensive chocolates for Dr Crabblesnitch and that he keeps them in his desk.”

“Really now?” Duncan said before pausing, “because that’s not worth the risk.”

“It is if I want to keep my friends AND my good reputation.”

The ex-dropout shook his head, scraping the tips of his fork against the mash. “You can just leave me be and be with your pals.”

“True. But I will choose to ignore your advice.” Cornelius checked his watch before groaning. “Come on, let’s get running.”

* * *

 

The library is exactly as Duncan remembered it from the first and last time he came here. The smell of old books and yellowed pages still haunt every corner as well the clicking noise of draughts and chess players on the second floor while a handful of studious students occupy the tables. In the far corner, Duncan spotted the group of nerds waving Cornelius over and he followed him, much to the dismay of the group who immediately gave him looks of suspicion. Algie stood up the moment they approached the square table.

“Duncan,” he greeted him curtly before pointing his thumb at the desk nearby with a globe resting on it beside a paper sign with ‘HM STUDY ONLY’ written on it. “That desk is yours. I told the guys what’s going on about your situation, and we WILL let Cornelius stay with us only if you agree not to interrupt our game more than three times per session. Got it?”

“Uh…” Duncan stared at him, only nodding. “Fine. That’s fair. I don’t wanna get on anybody’s bad side.” The nerds muttered among themselves before Melvin handed Algie a sheet of paper with a pen on a clipboard, and he held them out to the ex-dropout.

“Excellent. Then just sign this contract and we’ll be fine and dandy, capiche?”

“I don’t know Spanish, but agreed,” Duncan joked and took the clipboard, signing his name down while trying to ignore the groans from the group and he handed them back. Algie nodded before sitting down and pulled the chair out for Cornelius, who gave him an apologetic look and sat down.

“Seriously, don’t be afraid to ask for help,” he whispered, “go ahead, you can save the more difficult parts for the end.”

With disappointment, Duncan sat down in the lonely desk, getting his pens, pencils and rubbers out as well as his notebooks and some homework sheets that came with his Induction pack. Dr Crabblesnitch did mention in passing that these aren’t mandatory to complete, but they’ll add credits to his name if he wanted to go to university. Although from the looks of it, he’ll have to complete a boatload just to get a single credit…

Sighing, he began with a simple maths sheet, except that as soon as he hit the multiplication tables his mind blanked and he blinked, trying to cover up the sheet apart from the question. That only made it slightly better, except that he can’t keep using his bag to hide distracting questions.

Meanwhile, the group behind chatted away in whispers since the librarian sat by her outdated computer while drinking coffee, giving him occasional glances.

_ ‘She’s here to make sure that I’m attending these stupid sessions,’  _ Duncan thought as bitterly as her coffee and tried not to listen in on the interesting campaign going on behind him. From the sound of things, the group are travelling through the Wild Wastelands of Snowdonia while avoiding savage locals, except in reality the locals want the Evil English Overlords to be overthrown so that they may reclaim their Wintry Kingdom.

“I cast a spell to disguise us as the castle guards!” Melvin declared in a low voice. “I will roll for illusion, and…”

The dice rattled and the group groaned. Duncan couldn’t help but grin. From the sound of things, Algie is the Grotto Master as he ‘ooo’ed’ and said: “The armour Melvius apparated are all the same size and can only fit Farce the Elf Princess.”

_ ‘That can’t be right,’ _ Duncan frowned,  _ ‘who designed the rules? And how DO G&G rules work now? It’s been years since I last played.’ _

But he did get a good chuckle out of hearing the character names. Before he knew it, he zoned out with his eyes shut as he listened to the campaign. The group managed to send Farce the Elf Princess to infiltrate the castle and reach the drawbridge controls after using her sexuality to manipulate the guard into accidentally falling down the stairs and impaling himself. Duncan tried so hard not to guffaw at the image in his mind, but then again he’s always been good at daydreaming.

With the drawbridge down, the guards are alerted by the corpse lying at the bottom of the stairs and an epic group fight began, but just as the group finally entered the throne room where the evil king Bert was busy copulating with one of his maids, Algie checked his watch and sighed.

“Time’s up, guys,” he announced and the other guys groaned. Even Duncan shook his head in dismay. He was really getting into the story-- Oh shit, he hasn’t answered a single question on the sheet!

In a panic, he hurriedly stuffed the papers in his bag only for Cornelius’s dark hand to pluck it from him eagerly, saying “I’ll check for mistakes if you like, and--” he paused, only seeing dots on the corner of the page from where Duncan boredly tapped his pen.

“Thanks for not interrupting us,” Bucky said with a wry smile as he picked up his character sheets, “must’ve meant you’re too busy to do that, huh?”

“I--”

“Yes, he’s done a good job so far!” Cornelius suddenly interrupted him with a smile, slipping them inside Duncan’s bag, dropping his voice to a whisper and said “meet me in my room.” before joining his friends, leaving the ex-dropout stunned.

* * *

 

He may live off-campus, but Duncan knew a thing or two about the layout of the dormitories.

He got odd looks as he entered the building, realising that he doesn’t know where Cornelius roomed until the guy himself showed up, immediately leading him his room where there’s another bed.

“Constantinos rooms with me, but nevermind-- What happened? Why couldn’t you answer the questions in those two hours?” Quick to the point.

“I…” Duncan began hopelessly, scratching his head, “I got moderate learning difficulties. I thought I’d get maths out the way since I hate it the most, but I couldn’t do it.”

“Oh, come on, you’re meant to do the easy stuff first! That’s how we get things done quicker,” Cornelius sighed, but that only touched a nerve.

“Well excuse ME for having problems with doing things in order! I’m bright and brainy like you said, but am I really? If I’m so smart, then why did I leave, huh?” Cornelius inhaled, but Duncan carried on. “Because like you dicks, I got bullied for BEING smart and now I’m dumber than a fucking bag of bricks because I stopped going to school!”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but--”

“Nu-uh!” the other male snapped, pointing at him, “you ain’t pulling the wool over my eyes! Just admit that you want to control me to make up for not being the clique leader when Earnest graduated and you’re pissed that Melvin took over!”

“It’s not--”

“IT IS!” Duncan roared, storming up to him. Despite being shorter than the nerd, Cornelius is staring back at him, backed up against the desk. “GO ON, SAY IT! SAY THAT I’M RETARDED AND YOU WANTED TO MAKE YOURSELF LOOK DECENT COMPARED TO ME!”

“I won’t!” he managed to shout back, knuckles still gripping the desk. “You just needed more time and guidance and--”

“FUCK THAT!” Duncan ranted, “DON’T YOU PREACH THAT SHIT TO ME WHEN YOU’RE NOT EVEN HELPING ME OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

“Duncan--”

“Don’t bother!” he spat, turning away and stormed towards the door, “next time you shitheads distract me with your game, I’m telling Miss Carver!” And without looking back he yanked the door open and left.

Students who overheard the shouting watched him leave the building and he stepped out into the cool Autumn air cooling his heated face. He suddenly shivered and shoved his hands in his pockets, heading towards the car park, knowing that the gate is only open for an hour when the off-campus teachers leave in their cars.

The leaves still fell from the trees even after the sun has set and the streetlights flickered on. Passing teachers and their cars, Duncan grumbled to himself knowing that he’ll have to walk through New Coventry after dark. He’s not exactly in the greaser’s good books, even with Peanut as the new clique leader their attitudes won’t change overnight…

“Duncan!” he heard someone cry just as he passed the main school gates and he looked to see Cornelius panting heavily and leaning against the bars with both hands. “Duncan, I’m sorry! I thought that as long as you’re set in the library you’d be fine, but I never considered your handicaps!”

“Thanks, now beat it!” Duncan snapped and carried on walking.

“I mean it! I’m going to have a serious conversation with Melvin about how I spend my personal time!”

He stopped, gritting his teeth but didn’t will himself to ignore him.

“Duncan, in general, G&G is a boring game, so how could it have distracted you?” Cornelius didn’t see his face grimace because it only came as a flicker that was quickly replaced with tiredness.

Duncan reluctantly walked up to the gate. Whatever prolongs him from seeing his father passed-out drunk on the floor… “I used to love playing G&G when I was in school. But because it didn’t catch on, I had nobody to play with. I just collected the cards. Even when I got bullied by Davis White, I had my own fantasy world to retreat into where everybody liked me.”

Cornelius bit his lip as he listened, hands relaxing on the cold steel. “You left because of the bullying…”

“No,” Duncan muttered as he just looked away, much to his surprise, “I left because mom left my dad. He was always nasty to her, but went too far and hit her, so she just broke up with him and cleared off. She took her jewellery, took all of dad’s drinking money from under the mattress…” It might’ve been the cold air, but his eyes misted over. “Mom never really had anything to do with me. She just gave me date-expired food from her supermarket job. She paid for my tuition with her wages, but of course when she quit and left my dad and her job, the money ran out so I couldn’t stay. Don’t get me wrong, the bullying did get too much for me at time, but if I think about it that wouldn’t be the sole reason I left.”

“Oh, man…” Cornelius’s sigh came out as a cold vapour, “man, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realise. That wasn’t anything like what I’ve heard about you.”

“It wouldn’t,” Duncan grumbled, “my dad’s always hit me or my mom when he’s pissed out of his skull. People see my bruises and call me a scrapper and nag at me for ‘ruining my future’ when they know fuck-all about my home. Neither mom or I told anyone about it, she always told me to keep quiet of their fights so that people won’t be nosy and throw me into foster care.”

“And you’re going home now?” Cornelius’s eyes wandered towards the bridge, barely lit by the lighting from the lights of the main town. The other male rolled his eyes.

“I’ll have to sleep somehow and I can’t sleep in the streets if I wanted to get mugged.”

“Alright, stay safe.”

Duncan paused, giving him a look. “What’d you say?”

Cornelius’s tongue almost tripped. “S-stay safe?”

“Of course I will,” the brunette sighed heavily as he rubbed his head, “I’m from Blue Skies, after all. Nowhere is safe.”

“Then at least take one of these!” The nerd quickly pulled out his chewing gum from his pocket, holding a tablet out. “It’s cold right now, so the mint will keep your throat feeling warm.”

“But…” Staring at the outstretched hand, he reached over and picked a smooth tablet. “I already still got one from earlier.”

“I’ll make amends here and now,” Cornelius admitted, watching his face, “I swear to do all that I can to help you graduate no matter what. I’ll even quit the G&G club if it’s taking me away from you too much.”

Duncan knows that it’s getting really late and while the curfew is officially 11pm, he’s noticed an officer patrolling the area giving him the stink eye, deliberately walking slowly. Yet…

“Cornelius,” he spoke up with a frown, “I get that we’re homework buddies and you volunteered to help or whatever, but aren’t you being a bit too friendly? We only just met.”

“Yeah…” the nerd muttered meekly, “you call it ‘being too friendly’ but I call it ‘enthusiastic.’” He almost jumped when Duncan burst out laughing.

“Come on, just admit that you ain’t on the best terms with those other dorks!” he chortled, “I’ve seen how they talk to you. They’re only keeping you around because you guys are the only G&G players in the whole school and you only just infiltrated King Bert’s throne room.”

“I guess…” Cornelius grumbled, “but I’ll soon find out how loyal they are to me. But it’s getting real late.” He looked up to meet his gaze. “You better head back. The greasers don’t have a bedtime in New Coventry.”

“That much I know,” Duncan snorts and waved at him, “see you later, Flutius.” Before winking and walking off, feeling that he’s in a significantly better mood. Meanwhile, Cornelius inhaled and smiled, watching him leave until he vanished in the dark and then he turned to go back to the dorm.

* * *

 

Despite not really feeling close to Cornelius in particular, Duncan couldn’t help but smile to himself as he popped the chewing gum tablet into his mouth and began chewing. Sure enough, the icy waves of peppermint invaded his senses, ironically repelling the blustery winds carrying dead leaves off the skinny roadside trees lining the streets of Bullworth Town. Turning around the corner from the bridge, the ex-dropout peered around in the darkness, looking inconspicuous in his plain academy uniform whilst being conscious about his environment knowing about the dangers of not watching your back the closer you get to New Coventry.

Sure enough, the usual place that inspires dread lay just ahead of him at the bridge underpass where some of the greasers are loitering, talking loudly and smoking. Duncan took a deep breath, keeping his eyes down and power-walked it on the other side of the road away from them--

“Hoi! Townie!” one of the greasers yelled.

“Fuck,” Duncan growled, giving them a quick glance only to pause as he recognised the coppery red hair of the instigator in the dim streetlights. He smiled brightly. “Vance!” And ran over to him, sharing a grin and an elaborate handshake.

“I can’t believe you didn’t recognise me!” Vance joked, “I’m hurt!”

“It ain’t that!” his pal guffawed, “I just had a bit of a shit homework study.”

“Really?” he raised an eyebrow, “want me to set that nerd straight?”

“‘Straight’ being the key word,” Norton snorted and elbowed Hal. Duncan was going to ask why Norton hasn’t graduated yet, but what he said made him pause.

“He’s gay?” he asked Vance and he shrugged.

“I dunno, but ever since he volunteered to be Juliet for the school Romeo and Juliet production, we’ve all been making guesses.”

For some reason, Duncan found himself trying to guess all the cues that the nerd exhibited that gave away his sexuality, but they came crashing down on him. Vance waved his hand in front of his face with a grin.

“Wassup? Thinking of making a move on him?”

“No!” Duncan yelped and shoved his hand away, “besides, I like women with honking great tits!” But the other guys almost fell over from laughing so hard. It was too late.

“Yeah, and Vance thought he was going to marry Lola when they were in Elementary School!” Lefty perked and Vance threw his lighter at him, forgetting to extinguish it and it set some of his oil-slicked strands on fire. While Lefty screamed and batted his own hair, the redhead coolly turned back to Duncan with a small smirk.

“I ended up being engaged to someone way better,” he boasted proudly, “point is, I never thought I’d be married to those jerks from the prep clique, yet here I am with these earrings Gord got me.” Duncan peered at his ear lobes, seeing the simple round silver studs gleaming in the streetlight.

“True, I guess,” Duncan shrugged. Behind Vance, Hal was beating up Lefty’s flammable hair with his jacket. “But how can you be sure that Cornelius is gay?”

“I think he’s more like me - bisexual,” Vance corrected him, “but you know how it is when you’re a nerd, it’s more difficult. To actually date someone, you gotta talk to people, but socialising ain’t exactly a thing with the nerds so I feel kinda bad.”

“Hang on,” Duncan paused, “what if he’s trying to talk to me so that I can help him get a guy?” Vance’s lips curved into a grin, but did not say what was on his mind.

“This Saturday you could take him out for a walk on the beach. It’ll be relaxed enough for you two to talk.”

Duncan snapped his fingers. “Perfect! Great idea, Vance!” And shook hands with him. Meanwhile, Lefty’s fire was finally put out and he gasped, leaning against the wall while Hal miserably looked at the scorch mark on his jacket.

“Great! I’ll let Gord know about your plans,” the redhead winked and with that idea in mind, Duncan quickly ran towards Blue Skies, entering his room through his bedroom window and fell asleep straight away.

* * *

 

“A-a beach walk?” Cornelius blinked the second Duncan announced his idea after sprinting to him the next morning at the gates, “what for?”

“To talk more!” Duncan smiled brightly, “like getting to know you better, that kind of thing.” His cheeks darkened and he hugged his bag closer to his chest.

“Really? Wh-what time?” he babbled, feeling excitement tingle his nerves.

“Let’s say…” Duncan frowned, looking away before suggesting: “Maybe ten in the morning? That way, we can eat out or something. I’ll borrow some of dad’s welfare money and say the crows stole it and buy us lunch.”

“Wa-- Really?!” the nerd spluttered, “but… we…”

“I don’t have any commitments this Saturday OR Sunday,” Duncan smiled brightly, “and I’m on good terms with the greasers thanks to Vance, so nobody is going to interrupt us!” He relaxed, trying not to bounce up and down. “Whaddaya say?”

“I…” Cornelius looked at him, still feeling his face burn, before gulping and nodding. “I’ll meet you at the beach for ten tomorrow.” Duncan almost forgot that he started school on a Thursday, but this is even better. At least he’s not far from the weekend.

“Great!” Duncan patted his shoulder and Cornelius almost fainted at the contact as he watches the new student charge into the school just as the bell rang.

* * *

 

If there’s anything that Duncan knows for sure, it’s that he’s impatient as hell.

Throughout the school day, he kept looking at the clocks, quickly writing things down, diligently completed questions that he knows the answers to, greeted teachers with respect even if they’re being dicks to him (with the exception of a lovely few) and kept his head low no matter where he went. No trouble, no problem.

Then when the final bell went off, he immediately ran to the library for the homework study session, only to receive a message from the other nerds that Cornelius had to take time off his lessons because he felt sick earlier today and was instructed to lie down. Frowning, Duncan was about to leave the library with the intention of seeing the nerd only for Mrs Carver to bark at him to stay or be expelled. Begrudgingly, he obeyed and settled at his desk. He really shouldn’t, but he got his papers out and ignored them in favour of listening to the campaign behind them at the G&G game.

“Without Flutius…” Algie began with a sigh, “we’ll have to put a halt to the Snowdonia conquest.”

“Why not have him killed off and then have his body possessed by my mage’s magic?” Melvin suggested.

“Hey, good idea. We’ll explain to Cornelius when he recovers.”

_ ‘How disappointing,’ _ Duncan sighed and decided to do some writing.  _ ‘It’s actually more interesting with Flutius in the game.’ _

To him though, the next 2 hours were agony to his mind. He couldn’t stop moving his feet and neither could he stop thinking about Cornelius only to pause.

_ ‘He DID look warm this morning. Maybe he was getting sick and I didn’t realise,’ _ he thought glumly and rested his cheek in his hand.  _ ‘Whatever. I’ll go visit him and chat with him in his room.’ _

Sure enough, when he hears the campaign behind him finishing for the night, for the weekend, Duncan immediately packed his things and ran out the library and towards the boys dorm by leaping over the broken-down wall that provided a handy shortcut.

Stopping in front of Cornelius’s door, he inhaled and knocked before hearing a weak ‘come in’ cry out and he entered, shutting the door behind him and he approached the bed where Cornelius was lying down in, curled up in his plain pyjamas. He looked up to see Duncan and sat up immediately with a gasp.

“Wh-wh-what are you doing here?”

“I heard you were sick, so I got worried,” he explained, sitting down beside him. “In truth, I thought about talking to you at the beach tomorrow so that I can tell you that if you ever need help dating a guy, then I’ll help ya out.” But Cornelius’s face fell, only for him to gulp and nod.

“Thanks,” he sighed, wiping his brow. “I… I’ll appreciate that.”

“No problem for me!” Duncan held his shoulder, he then grinned, “first things first, if you get better by tomorrow, I’ll take ya to New Coventry and get you kitted out in some new gear.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive! It's just that I've been taking part in NaNoWriMo2018 and I wrote a 66,000 word original story! But I'm going to make more edits to it in January because I've been neglecting my WIP fics too much so by miracle I'll probably update older fics that I wrote. For now, enjoy chapter 3!

Just as Duncan slow-jogged to the boys dorm the next morning, he spotted Cornelius outside the building chatting with Sheldon and Angie when he sees the former-dropout and a smile split his face as he waved. In truth, Duncan couldn’t wait until 10am to meet his friend so he thought about meeting him sooner instead just after the breakfast hour.

“Morning, Duncan!” he greeted him. Duncan spluttered out a laugh and the other male froze. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Saturday, sparky,” he chortled as he gestured at his appearance, “you don’t need to wear your uniform.”

“He’s right,” Angie tittered nervously while looking at the newcomer warily.

“Ah. Force of habit - I’ll just get changed…” Cornelius said sheepishly and stepped back onto the step when his friend shook his head and reached over to grab his arm.

“Nevermind,” he laughed, “come on, let’s get you a date!” Sheldon and Angie traded surprised looks. The youngest student in the group spoke up.

“But Cornelius, didn’t you say you--”

“YES good idea, let’s go! The day is still young!” Cornelius yelped out and suddenly took off into a sprint, dragging the confused guy along.

They made it as far as the main gate when Duncan had to stop, taking deep breaths and coughed. The nerd stared at him, wondering about something.

“Do you have a cold?”

“No,” he wheezed, “shit… gimme a second…”

“I’ve heard a rumour that you couldn’t finish your laps in PE…” he said hesitantly, “is that true?”

“Guess I’m more of a fighter than a runner - let’s just walk,” Duncan stood up straight with a grin.

* * *

 

“I get short of breath easily,” the former dropout sighed heavily as soon as they made it to town, making their way down to the old cinema, “even as a kid I couldn’t run, because whenever I outrun my dad I had to stop otherwise I’d pass out. At least I wouldn’t see him hit me with his belt if I did.” Cornelius gaped at him in horror.

“That’s horrible!”

“That’s life,” Duncan grumbled, hands in his jeans pockets, “makes me determined as hell to never have kids. That old bastard doesn’t deserve to be a grandfather and neither will I give him the satisfaction of living with him after I graduate.”

“I see…” Cornelius mutters as he looked ahead, feeling a chill run up his spine at the sight of the defacto entrance into the New Coventry area beneath the train tracks. Already he could see some greasers loitering around there exchanging what looks like bike parts when they spotted Duncan and waved at him before carrying on talking to each other.

“They’re alright with me. You remember last year’s incident with Gord, didn’t you?”

“Of course! I was on the rescue team,” Cornelius grinned proudly, “I knocked out an orderly AND dragged their body out the burning building with Donald’s help!” Duncan smiled at him.

“Well because of that treaty the greasers had with the nerds, nobody suffered for the rest of last year.”

“It was heaven,” his breath fluttered happily, “no wedgies, no being shoved in the lockers… I wish Earnest had the contract extended, but he’s left now…” His voice trailed off and Duncan hummed.

“Well… I go to Bullworth now, so you got me,” he winked, “just as long as the prefects don’t catch me.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Cornelius smiled slightly, not noticing that he’s walking closer to Duncan as they walked past the Yum-Yum Market, “I don’t want you to get expelled for protecting me.”

“I insist!” Duncan grinned and bumped their shoulders together, “you’re my homework buddy and a potential G&G partner. If there’s anyone I’d want to spend time with, it’d be--”

“Hey, Duncan!” a voice cracked and he looked away from a disappointed Cornelius to see Leon approaching them from the thrift shop with a big grin before it dropped to a frown upon seeing the nerd and he stormed up them. “What’s this BABY doing here in our town?”

“He’s my homework buddy!” Duncan hurriedly explained, stepping between them, “I owed him for some help, so I’m getting him a kick-ass outfit to attract the chicks!” Leon grunted and stepped pask him to unexpectedly hold up his friend’s arm by the sleeve, making him back up with a whimper.

“THIS beanpole?” he guffawed, “you’re better off giving him a broomstick with a wig and lipstick!” Duncan quickly glanced at Cornelius with an agonised expression before forcing a laugh and he wound his arm around his shoulders despite him being taller than the former dropout.

“Come on, he’s a great guy!” he says, “you just gotta give him a chance, like Gord did with me to get back into school.” But Leon turned to him with a growl.

“So what? They’re all the same at that stupid place - a load of backstabbing rich scumbags who’ll never amount to anything!”

“Leon, what the hell?” Duncan hissed and let go of his friend, “not ALL of them are bad!”

“They tortured us at that hellhole!” Leon snapped, “they tore up your RARE G&G cards and poured orange juice over you because you said orange is your favourite colour!” (Cornelius paled upon hearing the former.) “What makes you believe that you’re not going to go through that shit again and WITHOUT being allowed to defend yourself?! You should just drop out. It’s not worth the effort.”

“It’s worth it because I got friends!” Duncan protested, gesturing behind him at Cornelius, “come on, Leo, just give him a chance. When I graduate, he’ll be the reason my grades have improved!”

“Whatever,” Leon spluttered and slapped his hand away, storming past them. Duncan stared after him before raising his voice.

“Leon!” But he was already around the corner kicking an empty buzz coke can noisily into the gutters. His hand dropped to his side miserably when Cornelius spoke up nervously.

“I’m sorry about that, maybe we should just get something from the school shop…”

“No, no,” Duncan shook his head firmly and spun to face him, “I said I’d get you some REAL cool gear, and we’re doing that!” He walked past him and opened the door, holding it open for his friend who reluctantly enters.

* * *

 

Luckily there’s nobody else in the thrift shop apart from the pretty lady clerk who’s filing her nail - painted gothic black in anticipation of Autumn - so Duncan and Cornelius relaxed properly as they searched the rails of mismatched clothing and outrageous sizes. The smaller male let out a cheer and pulled out a pink mankini before hanging it in front of himself with a grin and Cornelius burst out laughing.

“I-It’s not your colour!” he spluttered through his laughs and Duncan snorted, hanging it back. “H-how about this for you?” And he help up what looked like an aquaberry miniskirt with a deliberate tear on the side, obviously ripped for sex appeal.

“Woo - you’ll look sexy in that!” Duncan snickers and Cornelius coughed with a heavy blush as he quickly shoved it back onto the rail. “But seriously, looking at you, it’d be too generic to say that black and brown clothing will suit you because while they do, you gotta go for something that’ll make you stand out in a crowd but without making you look like a dillweed.” His companion shrugs.

“I’m not the fashion expert. Hit me with your best shot.”

So Duncan did just that, forcing Cornelius to stand by the mirror while watched on by the amused sales clerk before quickly picking some clothes out and hanging them over his arm.

“Here, catch!” he called out as he dumped the pile onto the empty rail beside his confused friend, “try this lot out!” And then he drew the curtain to hide him from his view.

“Uh… Duncan?” he squeaked.

“Yeah?”

“You… ugh, just take it.” His held something through the side of the drawn curtain - the ripped aquaberry skirt - and both Duncan and the clerk fell into hysterics.

It took a few minutes for Cornelius to get changed. Just as Duncan was about to surprise him by opening the curtain, he spotted Cornelius’s hand resting on it hesitantly, bunching the fabric into his fist.

“I’m ready, but don’t laugh.”

The clerk and Duncan shared a grin before he announced: “Open up!”

The curtain whisked across and the smirk dropped from Duncan’s face. Standing taller thanks to the black army-style boots, Cornelius stepped forward in his navy blue ripped jeans, orange t-shirt with black flames on the hems and a tatty old leather jacket with its sleeves ripped off.

“That bad, huh?” Cornelius muttered sheepishly, hunching over a little, “I thought so, anyway.”

“You look like a BADASS!” the woman declared, “you look ready to overthrow the government!” Cornelius’s smile lit up and Duncan finally gathered his wits enough to hoot and slap his shoulder.

“Hot damn! Now the girls won’t resist you!” he cheesed, “told ya I’ll help you out! Leon’ll eat his words if he sees you!”

“I doubt it,” he chuckles nervously, “but Duncan, thank you so much for this.”

“Nu-uh!” Duncan waggled his finger, “you ain’t off the hook yet! Your hair definitely needs work on, but your glasses still have that ‘punch me!’ sign on them!” The black guy self-consciously touched his thick glasses.

“But these are on prescription…” he muttered.

“Ah, shoot,” Duncan cursed, “can’t you get contact lenses?”

“I COULD but I’ll need to get a test done for that too and even then it’ll take ages to get them on demand.”

“Oh well - you still look cool!” he winked and handed some cash to the clerk, but Cornelius choked on his spit and hurried over.

“Wait, you don’t have to pay for me!”

“It’s a date - guy who asks the other out first gets to pay,” the clerk smirked and the poor guy almost experienced a government shutdown in his brain as Duncan coughed, shifting his feet.

“It isn’t,” he insisted. “Oh, and keep the change for the charity pot.”

* * *

 

Duncan couldn’t stop thinking about the clerk joking about them being on a date. Even as they sat in a booth at the Burger joint watching the heavy rain pour outside in silence his mind riddled over puzzles on how to justify this not being a date.

_ ‘So much for a beach walk,’ _ he thought miserably. _ ‘At least we’re eating in a warm building.’ _

“Hello, chaps, are you both here on a date too?” a voice spoke up.

Duncan’s voice hit a higher-pitched squeal as he quickly whip his head around to see Gord and Vance with their arms around each other, both smirking.

“NO, WE’RE-- oh, hi, Gord,” he spluttered while Cornelius nonchalantly sipped at his smoothie with a grin at his panic. “What the heck are you guys doing here?”

“Well…” Vance began, glancing between them with a smirk, “my boys have told me that you were spotted wanderin’ over their turf with Cornelius here so they told us.”

“We’re on a date,” Gord sighed, “but just as we were going to the carnival - don’t look at me like that, Vance - it started to pour so decided to eat here instead.”

“Join us,” Cornelius shrugged and it was then that they stared at his outfit and almost did a double-take.

“Woah,” Vance whistled, “can’t believe you let yourself go, Corny, great look!” Gord groaned and face-palmed.

“Yes, but you look like an absolute ruffian now!”

“Never stopped you from bangin’ me,” his boyfriend winked and his face flooded scarlet.

“I like it!” Cornelius chuckled, “Duncan didn’t have to, but he paid for it. He said he’ll help me get chicks this way!”

But Gord and Vance glanced between them with knowing smirks.

“Get you chicks, huh?” the greaser chipped, sitting beside him, “how much has he taught ya?”

“Yes, Cornelius, share us your wisdom,” Gord cooed, slumping into the seat next to Duncan (mostly to prevent the increasingly nervous individual from escaping,) “we’re simply DYING to hear what you’ve learnt!”

“Uh…” Cornelius glanced between them, “not anything yet, but he said these clothes’ll give me more confidence.”

“Oh they will!” Vance nodded quickly, gesturing at his outfit, “I mean, girls LOVE bad boys. So what kind of girls do ya like? Sexy ones? Smart ones? Both?”

“Ideally both,” Cornelius answered shyly, taking a sip from his drink, “same for…” He said that last part without thinking and trailed off, expecting the naturally-louder guys to overlook that detail, except they stared at him.

“‘Same for…?’” Gord repeated gently, raising an eyebrow, “who?”

“Uh… y’know…” Cornelius blathered, “all sorts of people! And…” He looked at Gord and Vance, not saying anything but the prep immediately understood with a gasp, looking at Duncan who was busy eating his burger like a starving dog.

With a growing smirk, Gord stood up, taking Vance’s hand into his.

“We better leave the master alone with his student,” he said lightly, winking at his love, “we wouldn’t want to interrupt their ‘love lessons.’” But Vance protested.

“B-but we only just got here!” he complained.

“We’ll have some Italian food at my father’s hotel,” the brunette suggested, tilting his head at the pair sitting down before sighing. “I’ll explain it to you when we get there.”

And they hurried out before Duncan can even finish chewing and groaned.

“Aw man, I wanted to talk to them more!”

But Cornelius felt glad they left as he looked at his friend’s face closely, watching the slight sheen from the burger’s grease gleam on his lips…

“Fuck,” Duncan sighed heavily, resting his head in his hand, “I really wanted to talk to ‘em more too. They’re the reason I got back into Bullworth. They’re the ones giving me an escape from the shit at home.”

“Well…” Cornelius gulped, “they don’t have to be your only reason for going.”

“They are,” he muttered with another mouthful of his burger, “if I hadn’t helped Vance rescue Gord from the kidnapper, Gord would’ve been killed and he wouldn’t have recommended me to the Smith Fund.”

“It’s not just that.”

Now confused, the brunette swallowed his food in irritation. “They are! How many times do I--”

“I want to be a reason for you to STAY in the academy,” the nerd suddenly declared, looking at him in the eyes, and they fell into silence until he gulped, hunching over again. “I mean… I want you to stay, and I’m just being selfish.” But Duncan stared at him in surprise, eyes wide. “I-I wasn’t lying about me liking girls, but I like guys too, and I was worrying that that might freak you out and bully me… We’re getting along great as friends and you’re way different from the usual people I hang out with, and you’re pretty cool--”

“Cornelius,” Duncan interrupted him at last and he looked at him in panic, wringing his hands together. “I can kinda tell you’re into guys too.”

“C-can you?”

“Well, duh!” Duncan snorts, “I’m bisexual too. It’s an intuition thing. Why’d you think I’d hate you for liking guys too? Even if I was straight, it’d be a huge dick move to ditch you.”

“Do you mean that?” Cornelius uttered, managing to stare at him as he nodded with a smile.

“I’d be crazy not to. Did you know that Hopkins kid made out with half the school? I’m one of them, and…” he shivered, “man, he’s good. Real good. He is AMAZING at kissing.”

“Oh, my god,” Cornelius moaned, burying his face into his hands, “same! I know!”

“See?” Duncan chuckled, “now we got something else in common.”

“Too bad he doesn’t have any interest in dating anyone!” he sighs, toying with the smoothie straw, “when we make out, it’s like…” He took the straw out of the thick shake, pointing through the window. “It’s like being hit with a rainstorm. Unexpectedly amazing and--”

“Wet?” Duncan snorted and Cornelius burst out laughing.

“Yeah!”

They cackled before relaxing into casual chatter, complaining about Bullworth in general, talking about the girls, lessons, teachers, the prefects who are still oddly around despite being of age, the cliques…

“Uh, you remember Gord’s birthday party last year, right?” Cornelius suddenly blurted and Duncan nodded with a grin.

“Oh, yeah. I got wasted though, so I can only remember the first half of the party. But I do remember some of your mates streaking around Blue Skies and getting arrested after trying out weed.” His friend laughed, looking hesitant to ask something.

“Yeah, that was so hilarious…” Cornelius said slowly before coughing and inhaling. “What else do you remember? Any… hot chicks to remember? Someone you made out with?” But he watched Duncan’s eyes glaze over in memory as he tried to think hard.

“Now that ya mention it… I think I DID kiss someone,” he mutters before eating one of Cornelius’s fries, “they moaned a lot too, so I must’ve given them a good time, but before I knew it I woke up behind the portaloo inside Jimmy’s hideout with a raging headache and spunk all over my outfit.” Cornelius almost choked on his drink, spluttering.

“Y-you what?”

“Y’know, the sticky white stuff: cu--”

“I KNOW but why can’t you remember them? The person you kissed?”

Duncan snorted with a wave of dismissal. “We’ve all been drinking, that kind of thing is normal. You don’t need to look so pent up about it. Oh yeah…” he squinted at him, “you were at the party, that much I can remember. You danced like you were high.” Cornelius facepalmed, shaking his head. “Don’t lie! You’re actually one of the BETTER dancers, but that weird psychedelic rainbow t-shirt you wore definitely ruined your street cred.”

“Don’t remind me!” he squeaked and Duncan realised with amusement that he’s blushing heavily. It’s hard to tell, but with the glaring light above their booth he could see more details on his face clearly.

“So…” he grinned, resting his cheek in his hand, “did YOU get lucky with anyone at that party? Is that why you let me buy you that outfit so you can track them down and impress them?” Cornelius just nodded, not making eye contact. “So who is it?” he chirped, just bathing in his embarrassment, “because I don’t kiss and tell, so your secret is safe with me! Tell me!”

“I-I forgot.”

“Come off it!” the Townie snickers, waving him off dismissively, “you’re definitely not someone who gets shit-faced, so you’ll definitely remember their face and name! The only people Jimmy helped me invite are those who go to Bullworth or have previously been there. It’ll be easy helping you!”

Cornelius knows that it’s not 100% true - some adults turned up at that party bash too, but it’s not like Duncan keeps a facial record in his brain of every single person he’s met.

“Hey… Yoo-hoo~!” Duncan cooed teasingly, waving his hand in front of his face and he blinked. “Tell me! C’mon! I’ll behave myself even more if you tell me!”

“A-alright!” Cornelius stammered and his hands clenched into fists, “but… but… promise you won’t t-tell anyone? Not even your best friend Leon?” He watched in worry as a frown crossed his friend’s face before he nodded.

“Well... if it’s THAT serious, then okay,” Duncan shrugged and leaned on the table, listening closely as his voice drops to a whisper, “is it a prep? I can understand. Gord’s dad didn’t approve of him being with Vance, but good ol’ Gord’s fighting for his love. If you feel as strongly as he does, then you have my full support. So who is it?”

The rainfall still hammered the world outside the warm booth, pattering the windows as a distinct booming noise rocked the blackened sky followed by a flash of lightning. As the bored cashier wiped their till with a cloth a few feet away, Cornelius inhaled and stood up to lean forward as he cupped Duncan’s cheek and kissed him on the lips. He went quicker than he hoped, slumping back into his seat with awkwardness squeezing his ribs and forcing his words out.

“It was you, at the party…” he began slowly, not looking up, “some weird woman was harassing me and you shoved her into the portaloo before locking it, a-and I was so grateful for it.”

Finally, he tilted his head up to see Duncan just staring at him in obvious shock with the slightest hint of a blush in his cheeks as his mouth hung open in a little ‘o’ shape.

“You… were definitely as drunk as hell,” Cornelius muttered, “so I wasn’t surprised you forgot about me.”

“Me…?” Duncan finally spoke lightly, touching his own lips, staring at him, “...Why me?”

Cornelius sighed, hanging his head low.

“I dunno. I kinda like the ‘bad boy’ thing you have going on, plus you really helped me out that day when I dropped my limited edition Fairy Elfmother card in the library when I left in haste with my comrades. It’s not much, but you really handled that card with care. I’d have never forgiven myself if anything happened to it. I think you’re pretty handsome too and I’m jealous that you’re so strong too…”

“Wait…” Duncan still gazed at him, growing even more utterly confused, “I-- no offence… but…”

“I really like you, Duncan!” Cornelius’s voice rose as he stood up, towering over him, “I had doubts, but when you returned my card to me with such care and I saw your test scores from your first year, I fell in love and that’s when I know that my feelings are real!”

“W-wait a sec!” Duncan exclaimed and flew to his feet, “it’s not that I don’t like you or anything, but we don’t even know each other that well!”

“Oh, really?” Cornelius snapped, “because from what I gathered, you and Gord got rather comfortable straight away!”

“Y-yeah, that’s true!” the townie snaps.

Cornelius opened his mouth to speak up, only to feel the flame of his determination feebly die out. The hand that he held out weakly dropped to his side.

“Sorry, Duncan,” he apologises, sitting down again, “I haven’t felt so happy being kissed by someone in so long, and Jimmy isn’t that interested in me, so I felt touched.” His friend could only look at him in pain.

“Cornelius, I was drunk,” Duncan explains, also sitting down, “people do WEIRD shit when they’re drunk or high, but I’m sorry if I ever hurt ya.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” he blurted, managing to look at him, “so… are we cool?”

“Well, duh, of course we are!”

The nerd’s gaze jerked to his huge grin.

“You found your guy, so…” his voice dropped, bravado slipping away as shyness seems to seep into his gradually-sheepish smile. “What do you do?”

In disbelief, Cornelius smiled brightly, brushing his hand over his own hair before clearing his throat with a quick cough and gave him the bisexual finger-guns.

“Hey, babe, wanna be my boyfriend?”

Duncan laughed so hard, he almost passed out.

* * *

 

The morning may not have gone as planned, but they happily sat beneath the pier watching the rainfall still as they laughed more about random subjects and shared a drink together. Some water dripped between the boards of the old bridge, most they managed to dodge by moving into a more comfortable position, but then they shared a smile while their hands firmly held together, giving each other the welcoming warmth they never knew they craved.

The air tastes like salt, being this close to the sea, but so does Cornelius’s lips from eating the fries earlier as Duncan found out, tongues lapping together. His breath hitched as he almost got pushed down to the sand by the nerd, but their embrace was as soft as the relenting rainfall.

Yet, as it’s September, the weather has taken a turn, transitioning to the occasional blistering wind whispering of colder months to come as their bodies shivered and their lips broke contact, just looking into each other’s eyes with shy smiles.

“Do you usually moan so loud when you kiss someone?” Duncan teased and Cornelius groaned, burying his face into his shoulder.

“I can’t help it! Jimmy never complained!”

“That’s because I’m a dumb jerk who lives in a trailer,” Duncan mutters before kissing his ear, enjoying the feel of him shivering against him. “So tell me, Corny, what do ya wanna do for the rest of this glorious day?”

“I dunno…” Cornelius sighs and turned his head so that he looked out at the sea, watching the choppy waves temperamentally clash together before looking at Duncan, noticing that he’s got the slightest freckles. “What do you do for fun that doesn’t involve causing trouble with the law?”

“Rude,” his boyfriend snorts, “but I do like nicking Leon’s bike to have a ride around the town and in the Vale. I sometimes go to the abandoned church just to chill as well.”

“Isn’t it haunted?”

“Ah, but that’s just a rumour that I created,” Duncan grins proudly, tapping his noggin. “I don’t have anywhere private to go to that isn’t my trailer and my dad’s usually there pissed out of his skull or sleeping, so when I was at the academy in my first year I discovered the place to escape from Davis White and his pals. I went inside and hid in the basement before poking the ceiling with the broomstick so that they’d hear knocking while they’re looking at the pews. I never heard them scream so loud, but the real icing on the cake was when I got this old metal pot and made a noise that sounded like a ghost and they shat themselves.”

“Genius!” Cornelius guffaws. “Is it still ‘haunted?’”

“Duh, of course! It’s my church!” Duncan cackles, “I go there sometimes when I’m bored or if I wanted to cry myself to sleep. But don’t tell anyone.”

“About your underlying anxiety problems?”

“No, no, about me making the place ‘haunted.’”

“Okay.”

The rain didn’t ease up, so they silently agreed to stay where they were, sidled close to each other’s sides until the afternoon passed as well as the rain and they made their way back to the academy.

* * *

 

“I’m glad the gates don’t close until 6, but I don’t want to risk getting locked out. It’s a pain to climb the walls unless you want to break your bones,” Cornelius mutters as they walk over the bridge with the academy in sight. Despite the days getting darker, there’s a fair few people walking by, either in groups or alone, but none seem to notice the pair holding hands.

“Do you know the shortcut that goes through the valley towards the observatory from Blue Skies?” Duncan suddenly asks.

“...Oh yeah.” The nerd almost facepalmed. “But it’s a nightmare to get to. Dark roads, old mining tunnels, the fact that the goons from the jocks clique hang out after curfew on the field…”

“I’ll be sure to protect ya,” Duncan says with a grin and let go of his hand to wound his arm around his shoulders. “You’re my boyfriend, after all.” He relished the embarrassed noises coming from his boyfriend’s mouth as he hid his face behind his hands before they dropped, a hopeless expression crossing his face.

“Wish I could do the same for you from your father.”

“Psst,” Duncan rolled his eyes. “I’ll live. He’s never wanted me dead. But you CAN protect me from your cliquemates, especially since they’ve been following us ever since we left the beach.”

Startled, Cornelius glanced back and sure enough he spots Donald and Beatrice trying to hide behind a group of jocks.

“Did they see us kiss?!” he suddenly whispers in horror and the ex-dropout shrugs.

“Even IF they did, what’s going to happen? They can’t expel us for teenage hormones going out of control.”

“Uh, aren’t you technically an adult…?”

“18, yes, but I don’t FEEL like an adult - you’re 17, right?”

“Yeah. I turn 18 on New Year’s Day.”

“By certain people’s standards, I’d be a raging hormonal paedophile for dating you.”

Cornelius tried not to laugh as they stop outside the gates and they gave each other shy smiles.

“Not exactly Romeo and Juliet, huh?” Duncan comments off-handedly and his boyfriend’s eyes widened.

“You HEARD?”

“I have - from Vance,” he snorted. “Apparently, you’re brilliant at playing women. I’d have loved to see that play.”

Cornelius’s eyes shone over as if in deep thought when an idea sparked in his mind.

“Actually…” he murmurs, “I’m in the Drama club and since I volunteered to write a script for this year’s Christmas play, I might even involve myself as part of the cast!”

“Cool - are there many for the club?”

“No.” Cornelius slumped. “Trent is still in the club as well as Angie, Davis and Ethan.”

“Huh. You may as well have the entire bullies clique. Hey, that could transform them from bullies into drama queens.”

“Hah! Good idea! Although Dr Crabblesnitch said that if I don’t have at least ten people sign up for the club by the first of December, then the club will have to be dissolved…”

They fell into silence, chattering of students drowning them as well as the engines of cars passing by. Duncan noted the sad look in Cornelius’s eyes and held his shoulder.

“Is that what you want to do when you leave school? Become a script-writer-whatever?”

“Kinda… I’ve always loved writing,” he says sheepishly.

“That’s pretty cool,” Duncan admits, “one day, you could be a writer for a famous Hollywood movie.” His friend chuckled.

“I doubt that… But thanks.”

Staring at each other’s eyes one last time before sharing a smile, Duncan dipped his hands in his pockets, popping a chewing gum tablet in his mouth before offering another one to his boyfriend.

“Take one - chewing gum okay for you?”

“Sure - while it has a negative effect on the environment, it helps me think. Thank you, Duncan. And thank you for today, it’s been…” His breath fluttered. “Amazing...”

Duncan winked and his knees almost turned to jelly before stepping back, giving him a shy wave before sprinting past the school gates and horrifying students with his cheesy grin and new punk clothing.

* * *

 

Practically skipping on the way home, Duncan let out a light-hearted laugh, feeling his head spin with happiness the more he remembers their awkward kissing under the pier bridge on the beach. Not even the grouchy old people in New Coventry cursing at him could brought his mood down - he’s over the moon, prancing on Pluto and spinning on Saturn. More importantly, he’s in love with someone who actually likes him back-!

“DUNCAN!” Someone yelled and his daydreams shattered as he focused on Leon, who stormed up to him as he approached the train underpass on New Coventry’s border.

“L-L-Leon!” he stutters, “you won’t believe what happened today!”

“I already know - you’re gone on a fucking date with that guy! That’s just gross!”

Duncan’t heart shrivelled at that.

“It wasn’t a date, technically.”

“Cut the crap,” Leon growls. “That guy is a NERD as well and a Bullworth kid! It’ll only end badly for you!”

But Duncan couldn’t help but smile.

“Come on, Leo, can’t you see that I’m in love?”

“Oh, hell no! That does it, you gotta stay outta school if you wanna stay cool, man!”

“I can’t!” Duncan protests. “I WANT to get a High School diploma, but then I also ended up getting a boyfriend too! Can’t you see how happy I am, Leon? Why’re you getting pissed at me?”

Leon groaned and ran his hands through his hair, glaring at him.

“I’m pissed because you’d rather go through all that crap than hanging out with the rest of us!”

“ZOE goes to Bullworth too and I don’t see you bitching about her not smooching your crusty ass.”

“She’s not my best friend though - you are! Best mates stick together no matter what, and you’re just playing at being a good little schoolboy with his own pathetic excuse of a man! You’re degrading yourself!”

Anger flared in Duncan’s chest as his fists clenched - yet why is he feeling sorrowful?

“Cornelius is more of a man than you think! He runs a club, he volunteered to become my study buddy AND plays in G&G sessions! He keeps himself busy while you’re just doing fuck-all not bothering to work or even do something useful!”

“I don’t care about work!” Leon rolled his eyes. “I just wanna have fun with my life not being ordered around by corporate bigwigs in their diamond towers. But if you wanna chain yourself to a desk for 80 hours a week, then so be it, I don’t wanna end up like you.”

Although he didn’t mean anything by it, it came as a jabbing punch to Duncan’s chest as he stared at him while his mind spun with new feelings conflicting with the old and their memories. He’s looked up to Leon ever since they met in the junkyard as toddlers - left unsupervised, naturally - and instantly befriended each other playing with scrap metal and with a punctured ball. He remembered how at 6 they decided to fix the ball by breaking into one of the warehouses to steal a pump and duct tape to blow it up and succeeded even though the ball was still in a sorry state.

It feels like the ball is deflating right now as a mournful realisation came to Duncan.

“The feeling’s mutual,” he mutters.

“What?” Leon frowned, blinking. “What did you just say?”

He definitely heard the schoolgoer as he took a hesitant step towards him but Duncan quickly stepped back with a snarl.

“I shoulda figured that you’re just gonna act like a dumb kid forever.”

His head jerked like he was slapped.

“Duncan, what do you mean?”

“I’m saying that if you don’t like what I’m doing right now, then you’re going to have to deal with it!” he snaps angrily. “I’ve told you ages ago - one day, I’m gonna leave this dump of a town and move to the city for a decent job, but did you really think that I was going to do that WITHOUT a diploma first?!”

“I thought we were going to be friends forever!” Leon burst loudly. “We’ve always hung out together! I’d come with you, man! You know I hate my mom for dumping my dad and that I’d do anything to leave as well!”

“We can’t always be together!” Duncan’s voice dropped, sounding like he’s pleading. “You gotta understand - like it or not, we’re adults and shit always changes. But can’t you see that this is my last chance to get a diploma?”

“You don’t need a diploma to be a goddamn cleaner or a shelf-stocker,” Leon spat. “You’d only need one if you wanna be a boss and - no offence, Dun - you ain’t exactly a CEO type."

Duncan fell silent until he spoke up again quietly.

“I’m fed up of wasting my life just pissing around in the same old town. I want to achieve something that’ll make my life feel worthwhile, and with Cornelius’s help I’ll be able to graduate.”

Leon’s face fell, but then he glowered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Then if you’re getting help from him, then it won’t really be an achievement.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Duncan mutters, eyes narrowing. “He’s been giving me the hands-off experience.”

The dropout scoffed.

“And how is THAT working out for you… rich kid?”

Duncan’s heart deflated. He knows what he must do now, but all he has to do is say those words and then it’ll be over for them.

He’s always been a follower of others, but he’s never the severe urge to change himself for the better before and like falling in love, he feels that he has to keep pushing forward.

“It’s taught me to never be afraid to change and ask for help.”

With that, Duncan walked past Leon just as lightning flashed over the town and heavy rain poured, instantly drenching the area.

“You’ll regret this, Duncan!” Leon suddenly called out, but the schoolgoer didn’t turn around. “Don’t come crawling back to me when shit hits the fan! It’s over between us!”

He wanted to spin and yell after him, make up and go steal energy drinks from the corner shop, but Duncan powered on until he began to sprint down the paths, breath catching in his throat as he tried not to cry.


	4. Chapter 4

“Where the HELL have you been all day?”

Duncan flinched as his father yelled from the ratty couch the second he set foot inside the woefully-small trailer.

“Just hangin’ out with my buddies,” he mutters and he scoffed, cracking a can open with a hiss before gulping the beer down.

“Those idiots from around here or the snobs from the academy?”

“Both.”

His father, a porky man wearing just jeans and a white vest stained with years of food, scrunched the can in his hand before tossing it into the pile over trash spilling from the only bin by the front door. It rolled from the top and landed by Duncan’s feet, some foam soaking into the dreary carpet.

“If you got time to piss around, then you have time to pick up around here. Clean that mess up or better still, get a goddamn job.”

“Dad, you know that my education is being paid for already. You don’t need to pay for anything.”

“No, but you’re eighteen, so either move out already or get a job and pay your half of the rent here,” he grunted and picked up another can from the 6-pack box beside him resting on top of 9 empty pizza boxes. “Or if you’d rather smooch off, can’t you stay at those fancy-schmancy dorms instead of being here?”

“I’ll have to look on Monday,” Duncan says quietly, even though he knows that Miss Danvers is at the school 24/7.

“Whatever. Hey, take some cash and get some more beers.”

Duncan, soaking wet from the rainstorm outside, held his tongue and picked some coins from the ashtray below the window - mentally counting the amount…

“Hey, by the way…” He stiffened. He hates that tone. “That dumbass Lion came here asking where you were.”

_ ‘Lion…? Oh. Leon.’ _

Duncan said nothing.

“You know I told you to keep away from that shitbag. If he comes around again, I’ll break his fucking legs.”

Inhaling, Duncan finally scraped up the money, pocketing it before opening the door.

“I’ll be back,” he says before stepping outside, closing the door and muttered: “I wish I wasn’t.”

One trip to the liquor store (and a brief chat with the man who never cards Duncan because he knew of his family’s situation plus they’re neighbours) the schoolgoer returned home, still soaking wet when he went inside the trailer to see his father passed out while the 90s tv still flickered with the screen displaying weird shades of green instead of saturated colours. Dumping the pack of beers beside the body, he quickly went into his cupboard-sized room, changed into another set of casual clothes before flopping down onto bed and sighed heavily. No point in buying pyjamas if you’re ready to split from an abusive home in a hurry...

He wishes that he had one of those mobiles that he’s seen preps and nerds using. Imagine carrying something pocket-sized that you can take pictures with to print out later, and connecting with your friends without using a bulky radio...

Then his mind sparkled as he remembered today’s events with Cornelius and he finally smiled, staring at the colourful rock band posters that he nailed to the ceiling. Some are of has-been bands or ones that have become corporate sellouts, but they held a serious place in his heart for nostalgia. He can still hear their older songs playing as he imagined himself taking Cornelius on a date to a concert before driving him someplace else to makeout at…

He giggled before freezing. Giggled?

Duncan covered his face in embarrassment.

But an equally-sad feeling came over him as he realised that he hasn’t felt this giddy in years within his own home.

Maybe it would be a good idea to move into the dorm. Getting a job would be too much of a hassle, especially considering how he’s basically spending most of his days in school. It’s going to be hard to find a job that’ll be flexible and legal for a schoolgoer…

* * *

“I’m afraid not,” Miss Danvers sniffed, filing papers together at her desk.

Duncan’s mouth dropped in shock.

“How?!” he sputtered. “The guys from last year graduated! How could the dorm spaces be all filled up so quickly?!”

“Duncan,” the secretary sighed in exasperation, pinching her nose, “not everybody’s parents love them enough to want to keep them at home, hence why they’re more than willing to pay extra towards securing dorm placements.”

“But my scholarship-”

“-Is NOT definite in non-essential areas!” she snaps, slamming her papers down. “The dorm system is not essential and is a ‘come first, come served’ basis. And ANY horrible suggestion of sleeping in the girls dorm will be COMPLETELY, ABSOLUTELY and UTTERLY out of the question!”

“I-It’s my dad,” Duncan splutters. “He said that if I don’t get a dorm place, then I’ll have to get a part-time job to pay for rent at home!”

Miss Danvers huffed.

“Five dollars is more than enough to pay half in a week for a trailer, Duncan. It’s easily attainable washing windows, for God’s sake.”

Ears burning, Duncan side-glanced to see Pedro and Sheldon sitting at the sofa by the reception entrance, cackling at his plight. He looked at the secretary.

“My education will get worse if I stay home!” he pleads. “I won’t be able to graduate if I’m a shitty home!” The woman sharply gasps.

“Language, Duncan! Any more, and you’ll have your nose cleaned!”

Feeling like pinching HIS own nose, Duncan inhaled before breathing deeply.

“Miss Danvers, is there any way that I can stay at the dorm? Even temporarily? Is there someone who’s going to get expelled soon and have the space freed up?”

She laughed in his face.

“Out of the question!” she says with an air of finality before standing up, clutching her papers. “There’s no room and even if you do get on the waiting list for current students, it’ll be June by the time you set a toe in the communal space and it’d be AFTER exams have passed. I’m sorry, but there’s absolutely nothing that I can do. Now leave.”

Defeated, Duncan stormed out and bumped into someone - someone tall a beefy and he inwardly groaned. Damon.

“I thought you graduated?” Duncan asks casually and the smirking jock glared at him.

“Got held back,” he mutters darkly, cracking his fist. “Not as much as you did.”

Duncan’s ears strained on the sound of a filing cabinet being open in the office behind him. As much as his own hands are twitching to punch him, he could only smile politely.

“Good thing second chances exist.”

The bell rung and he made a run for it before Damon could throw him down the stairs.

_ ‘He stays in the dorm,’  _ he thought bitterly to himself.  _ ‘So he’s a reason why I can’t stay on-site… I guess I’ll just find a job cleaning windows or make myself homeless. I can’t stay Leon’s because we fell out… I think, I hope not. Plus his mom’s a bit of a slut with anyone younger than-’ _

“Duncan!” an excited voice perked and he jumped, but smiled brightly at Cornelius hurrying up to him.

They almost leant in to kiss but swapped for a hug at the last second, much to the confusion of some passing students. They broke contact, grinning.

“How was your Saturday last weekend?” he asks lightly and the nerd hummed.

“It went well. I had a hot date!”

Duncan pretended to be hugely surprised. “Really? Holy shit, how did you manage that?”

It sounded so uncharacteristic of Cornelius to say the word 'shit' that it almost made him laugh his lungs out, but he politely refrained.

“I changed my casual look and asked them out at the burger joint!” Cornelius explained proudly.

“What else?” his secret-boyfriend asked and they almost fell about laughing.

“We made out under the bridge at the beach,” Cornelius simpers, voice growing higher as he hugged his textbooks, almost swooning.

“Nice one, man!” Duncan raised his hand, and Cornelius enthusiastically slapped it before they burst out laughing.

Sighing, Duncan checked his cheap watch. “Sorry man, I gotta rush. I got English.”

“I got Maths! I’m looking forward to it!”

The former dropout couldn’t help but laugh at his excitement. Not in a mean way, but with a feeling he hasn’t felt in such a long time towards someone. Someone incredibly different from him.

“Have fun, Mr Hot Date,” he winked before turning, heading towards the east wing to join a group of students going into Mr Galloway’s class.

* * *

 

Duncan sat in a desk beside Gord’s as the prep is also in the same group as him, much to their relief because Mr Galloway isn’t fussed about them passing hints to each other about the worksheets that they’re given.

But thanks to a good support network, the teacher is no longer drinking excessively and has taken to secretly reading new novels while working, hiding them inside a larger textbook to make it look like he’s looking up educational material. Everybody knows, of course, but nobody has the heart to tell him. Instead, he keeps quiet unless Dr Crabblesnitch walks in and by which he suddenly declares that he found the page that they’re to study from. It hasn’t happened today, but instead the students are given sheets full of words that are correctly spelt as well as ones that aren’t. It’s why Duncan pushed his desk against Gord’s so that they can study (and talk in whispers.)

“You sly dog!” the prep hissed in delight, “you kissed him?”

“I did!” Duncan says quietly, growing giddy. “He does make a weird noise, but goddamn his lips are so delicious!”

“Like… you actually made out?”

“Yes!”

“In a semi-public place?”

“That’s not all…” Duncan glanced around, see Casey showing Constantinos his version of the lesson’s answers while being met with a groan from Tad. His voice lowered. “Remember your birthday party last year?”

Gord shuddered, nodding.

“Well, I got blackout drunk and made out with someone without remembering their face, but it was actually-”

“Duncan?” a voice spoke up and the men yelled in shock, sharply looking up at Mr Galloway standing over them. He didn’t seem cross, but amused as he held his book open in one hand and the other over his hip. At the classroom entrance, Dr Crabblesnitch stood there with a raised eyebrow and everyone else stared at the pair. “Care to share with the class?”

“Ah…” Duncan’s eyes darted about, noticing how all the desks - apart from his - are neatly back in place like nobody shuffled them to their friends. He looks horribly out of place. “You see…” He patted Gord’s shoulder. “The word ‘Carouse’ bothered me, so I was finding an e-example for it’s usage…”

“Oh! ‘Carouse’,” Mr Galloway nodded firmly. “Old-fashioned, but the world will be a much better place if we use words like that - they have a lot of meaning to them that saves us wasting time to explain.”

“Exactly, sir,” Duncan winked, trying to relax, but the headmaster’s gaze was still on him, getting ready to expel him for any misstep in his presence… “S-so see, my example was…” His voice trailed off, expecting the beloved teacher to dismiss him, but held interest instead.

“Go on!” Mr Galloway urged happily, “I’m glad that a returning student is getting into this! Show us!”

Duncan coughed, glancing at Gord before taking a deep breath.

“When you’re at a party and there are… excitable beverages available… you dance after drinking them. So to carouse is to dance while being drunk.”

“Correct!” the teacher laughed, sounding nervous, “but in an exam, you’ll need to add in the fact that it’s a historical word because it’s no longer in general use. Well done. That’ll be a B.”

Duncan sighed in relief. “Thank you, Mr Galloway.”

Walking away from them, he gave them one last look that says _ ‘please move your desk back’  _ and Duncan silently obliged.

“Everything seems to be in order,” Dr Crabblesnitch nodded and Mr Galloway was about to sit down when he put his hand on his shoulder, making him frown. “Ah, Galloway, I need to have a word with you. In private, at my study.”

“O...kay? No problem, sir.”

All the students stared as he stood up straight, coughing before facing them with a smile.

“I’ll be right back, class. Carry on, and please no more musical chairs.”

That made a couple of students giggle before the teachers left. The second the door closed, Casey suddenly stood up, playing air guitar and everyone applauded.

“What do ya reckon they’re talking about?” Duncan murmured to Gord, even though nobody is listening to them.

“Beats me,” the prep mutters, checking his papers. “But nice improvisation… or was it?” His eye twinkled and Duncan laughed softly.

“It was Cornelius.”

“What a coincidence!” he gasps, “so this whole time, he was  _ pining _ after you! How romantic!”

“Yeah, well, cumming in your pants while drunkenly making out with someone isn’t exactly romantic.”

“Oh, my god!”

“Yeah…” Duncan grimaced. “Luckily I was drunk otherwise I’d die from embarrassment. I didn’t even know the guy apart from when I handed him his rare trading card back…”

“So what else did you two do?” Gord asked quickly, absolutely hungry to hear more but Duncan shook his head, grinning.

“I don’t kiss and tell, Gordy. But you, on the other hand…”

“Pst! Just because we made out doesn’t mean that you’re privy to any more of personal information.”

“You are a pretty good kisser,” Duncan teases and smirked at the blush in Gord’s cheeks.

"Oh, I already know that."

“Of COURSE you’d know that. Vance is lucky as hell - too bad that he didn’t get this scholarship…” Duncan frowned in realisation. “Hey, why didn’t you give Vance this opportunity to have a fully-paid scholarship? That guy will then at least have a full education.”

“I did consider…” Gord spoke lowly, “I also asked Vance if he was sure but he said that he was getting sick of school so I thought ‘why not give it to someone who actually WANTS to get their high school diploma?’ Not to mention that he’s got a job that he loves anyway, so he’s happy where he is.”

“Lucky guy,” the other male grumbles, “I don’t even know what exactly I want to do with my life.”

“Any thoughts?”

“I dunno… but as long as it gets me far away from Bullworth, then it’s good.”

“Same,” Gord sighs, “I’m not on good terms with my father, but I’m sure that he’ll come around and accept Vance.”

“He better, because the two of you are so good-looking together.”

“Of course,” the prep simpers, patting his own hair, “even though I’ve… dressed-down in style recently, I can still live lavishly with some of the boys at Harrington House. Bif has a pauper girlfriend and I’m suspecting something special about her-”

The door opened and everyone immediately sat down, instantly quiet as they watched Mr Galloway enter the classroom looking strange. His face seemed pale as his fingers shook.

“Class, I’ve received some bad news. I’ll need you all to come with me immediately and quietly.”

Stunned, the students began to stand up, picking up their bags, but the teacher waved them off impatiently.

“Leave your bags - just come with me. We’ll come back. Follow me in a single-file line and do NOT separate or wander off. Understand?”

Given how serious his tone has become, everybody glanced at each other, dropping pencils and books as they began to follow out the classroom in a group and with one last look into the classroom by the teacher, he began to lead them through the corridor. He glanced back, stopping to urgently whisper:

“Single-file, please! We must leave in an orderly manner.”

Nervous, Tad lurked behind Casey to whisper back to Gord.

“What do you think is going on?” he hissed, looking around the eerily quiet corridors. There’s not even a prefect in sight or anyone else.

“Beats me…” Gord murmurs.

Duncan’s gaze roamed around, looking at the lockers dotted with dents and sharpie-graffiti as well as bits of papers on the floor that haven’t been cleaned up by the janitor yet.

They went towards the stairs, only for Mr Galloway to take them to the emergency fire exit and opened the heavy door, revealing a dreary-grey staircase and blank walls. The doors haven’t been alarmed for obvious reasons, but even the older students were in shock at the sight of something they’ve never seen in the building before.

Heading down the metallic stairs, still in a line, hearts began to pound faster until Duncan gulped and leant over the rail to talk to Mr Galloway quickly so that he didn’t cut the line.

“Sir, what’s happening?”

“I’ll tell you as soon as we get to the football field,” was his answer and he deflated, obediently following on.

The ground-floor door opened and they stepped outside into the chilly sunshine but even out here nobody lingered. Not a soul to be seen, not even from birds. Duncan shivered, leaning over to Gord.

“I don’t see anyone.”

“Neither do I… Duncan, don’t yell, but I think…” Gord bit his lip, falling quiet as his shoulders began to tremble. Duncan stared, putting his hand on his shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting gesture, but it almost made the prep jump, stiffening and gulping.

“Think what? If it was a fire drill, we’d be out sooner.”

“Duncan… I think there might be a shooting threat.”

“Shit,” Duncan hissed, suddenly glancing around, pulse pounding as his legs seized, primed to run-

“Don’t say anything,” Gord hissed, not looking at him, “fucking hell, it better not. Nowhere is safe but you wouldn’t expect it to happen in BULLWORTH of all place.”

“Happen what in Bullworth?” Tad suddenly asked.

They reached the steps by the fountain when Mr Galloway stopped, talking to Dr Crabblesnitch who has a police officer standing beside him. Curious, the line converged into a group to listen to them when the headmaster spoke up suddenly.

“Please head to the football field immediately. You may run now.”

Still confused, the group jogged on without their teacher until they made it to the crowded football field where every other Bullworth student are hanging out at, talking to each other with murmurs on theories and confusion. Immediately, Duncan spotted Cornelius and ran towards him.

“Corny!”

“Duncan!”

The other nerds hanging out with him rolled their eyes.

“What’s going on?” Duncan asked.

“I don’t know! We were just taking a test when our teacher left and came back with Dr Crabblesnitch and asked us to leave. We had to go through the fire exit.”

“So did we! Man, this is confusing.”

“This is so disruptive!” Cornelius moaned, facepalming. “I was really in the mood for maths as well! I was powering on, kicking butt with algebra when it got interrupted and now I can’t stop thinking!”

Daringly, Duncan leaned close to his ear - making the watching nerds gasp - and whispered something that brought out a very dark blush in his face.

“Still can’t stop thinking?” he grins.

“On the contrary - y-you made it worse…”

They chuckled.

Suddenly, the intercoms crackled into life and Dr Crabblesnitch’s voice spoke up:

“Students and faculty, I thank you all for taking the time to cooperate with us in this trying time. You will soon return to classes, but I’m afraid that for now you’ll all have to head back to your dormitories or homes at this instant. Further news will be delivered in tomorrow’s morning assembly commencing at 9am sharp. See you all tomorrow.”

Confusion followed by excited whoops rippled through the crowds and students began to leave when:

“Please leave immediately. Until matters have ceased, the gates will be locked and manned by prefects and the police who are given registers of your dormitory status. Anyone left dawdling will be removed by force.”

Duncan and Cornelius looked at each other in dismay.

“Too bad,” he mutters, “I was gonna take you out for another burger.”

“I’m not too fussed, but I guess you’re happy to go home, huh?”

“Hah!” Duncan rolled his eyes. “I can’t wait to talk to my dead-drunk father. He said he wants me to either move into the dorm or get a job and pay rent.”

“The dorm? But there’s-”

“No room, I know. Miss Danvers told me.”

“Yeah,” Cornelius sighs. “But I do know that Yum-Yum market are always hiring students for half the minimum wage, so while it might not be much, it’ll be a start.”

Duncan stared at him.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s a very easy job too when you get used to it. At least, from my observation…”

“Perfect!” Duncan burst and hugged him, making a few jocks raise their eyebrows and snigger. “Which one is it?”

“The one in New Coventry.”

“Oh, fuck,” he grumbles, “but at least it’s not far from home.”

“Why don’t you go there now and apply?”

“Well, it’s not like I have homework…” He mumbles before they laughed.

As he left the school grounds and after being interrogated by the police standing at the gates, the wondering student headed to New Coventry’s Yum-Yum Market. Before he could even finish his sentence, the clerk lazily threw an apron at him and he accepted it, feeling puzzled but just put it on and had a fun chat with the bored clerk and soon got the hang of using the basic till as well as being taught how to use the weights for the bruised fruits and expired meats.

When 7pm came, he was given his wages - in cash - in an envelope, and while he’s sure that he’s been short-changed he didn’t care - Duncan is finally being paid for honest work that isn’t illegal.

* * *

 

The next day couldn’t have come quickly enough. After leaving some of his money on the sofa beside his unconscious father with the note ‘RENT’ written on it, Duncan made a run for it to the academy where the police are manning the gates again. After confirmation, they let him but only under the escort of a prefect with a small group of muttering students who were made to wait by the gates until more people came.

“What the hell is going on?” Duncan hears Kirby mutter to Trent.

“Beats the hell out of me. I couldn’t even talk to Russell ‘cause he lives in the Vale. Man, it sucks being the new clique leader when you can’t even talk to your senpai…”

“‘Senpai’...? Seriously, Trent? What are you, Sailor Moon?”

“I wish.”

Duncan glanced around until they got taken inside the building and then sat down in the auditorium. Dr Crabblesnitch stood at the podium with a line of teachers sitting in seats until almost every seat was filled and he coughed, tapping the microphone testily.

“Good morning, students. I’m sure that you’re all terribly confused, but with permission from the police I am now free to release some information to you all regarding yesterday’s evacuation.”

Upon hearing the word ‘evacuation’ mutters percolated in the large space.

“Yesterday morning, a phone call was made to the office. An anonymous person has declared that they have planted a bomb somewhere in the school premises, so with advice from the police I have had your teachers evacuate all of you from your lessons and through non-conventional exits for your safety. Meanwhile, throughout the night, the police have conducted a thorough search on the premises, but nothing has been found. While we remain on high alert, the police will be patrolling the grounds so I want all of you to be on your best behaviour.”

Duncan glanced about, seeing panicked faces sharply looking around as well as the younger kids growing upset. His own heart pounded. A bomb threat? Who’d do such a thing?

People began to speak up - very loudly - but the headmaster waved his hand dismissively.

“I’m sure that you’re all extremely anxious to get back to your lessons, but rest assured that today will proceed as normal although the Mayor has imposed an emergency temporary curfew of 6pm instead of 11pm until further notice, so any children seen after 6pm will be apprehended and taken to their home or their dormitory. Do NOT disgrace Bullworth in this trying time. We WILL apprehend the monster because hoax bomb threats carry an EXTREMELY serious prison sentence!”

Mrs Phillips stood up suddenly and approached the headmaster, whispering something to him before he went ‘oh!’ and coughed.

“Yes, and Mrs Phillips has kindly reminded me that because of curfew, all after-school clubs are suspended until further notice, including special ed sessions and homework study sessions.”

Duncan internally cheered while others groaned.

“Yes, that includes sports teams as well. But Mrs Phillips DOES have special permission to take students to the art gallery in the next town over for an emergency school trip using the school-issued trip funds, which will commence tomorrow. We WILL need permission forms to be written by parents or guardians so unless you have one signed, you cannot go. The trip will last all day tomorrow and lunches will not be provided, so bring your own.”

_ ‘Good grief,’ _ Duncan groaned. _ ‘Dad will be too drunk to write properly. I’ll have to get someone to forge it.’ _

“With that, please proceed to lessons as normal. One last time: curfew is 6pm. Get caught out late, and it’ll mean detention.”

* * *

 

Everyone left the auditorium buzzing with the shocking news presented before them. Duncan thought about the art museum trip but Cornelius interrupted his train of thought.

“Wanna go on that trip with me? I’m definitely going!” he said gleefully.

“Yeah…” He forced a smile. “I’ll try and get dad to stay conscious long enough to sign it. Oh, Corny, I got a job now as well!”

“Really? At Yum-Yum Market?”

“Yeah! Thanks for motivating me!” Duncan couldn’t help but wrap his arm around his skinny shoulders and squeezing him against his side. “I earnt some cash afterwards too! Probably not taxed but at least I’m earning something! I even left some money aside for dad to spend on rent.”

“How very mature of you!” Cornelius gushed, face flushing. “Maybe that’ll persuade him to sign your trip permission form!”

“I fucking hope so… hey, since curfew is 6pm and homework study classes are cancelled, maybe we could go on a walk or something?”

Cornelius stopped as they passed by the stairs, staring at him.

“Really? L-like another…” His voice drops to a whisper, glancing about consciously as he says: “...Date?” His knees almost buckled at Duncan’s smirk.

“If you want it to be, babe. I can get us something tastier than burger joint food thanks to my spanking brand-new wages.”

“Not that there’s anything fancy in Bullworth aside from the Vale Hotel, but THAT might be a little above your wage packet.”

“Fuck yeah, I wish. I heard their steaks are gorgeous…”

The bell finally rung - later than normal due to assembly delaying the first lesson - and everybody groaned, hurrying down corridors and out the front doors. Cornelius coughed into his hand.

“So I suppose we better get to biology, since we’re taking the same class.”

“Awesome! I love biology!”

* * *

 

Duncan is glad to see that Dr Slawter is as bat-shit crazy as the day he first him years ago when he looked considerably younger. The teacher didn’t seem to recognise him at all as he walked in the classroom, but he did give him a curious peer before looking down at his register. But the student didn’t feel any real loss - Duncan used to be such a small scrawny kid, remarkably different from how he is today being more rugged and at average height. But if it wasn’t for his strange breathing problems he’d consider himself a jock…

Seeing Cornelius waving for him from the desk by the window, his lips split into a big smile and ran over before sitting down, dropping his bag by his side.

“Good morning class, I trust that you all have eaten breakfast?” Dr Slawter’s deep tone purred as he looked around, seeming to size up his new class. “Good… because today, unfortunately, SOMEONE has stolen the rats that I specially gathered from the boys dorm, so for now we’ll have to settle for watching youtube videos on audiologists removing excessive wax from ears… Prepare yourselves…”

Everybody whispered to each other as he proceeded to struggle to set up the whiteboard and it’s projector, cursing it.

“Duncan,” Cornelius whispered and he leant closer, “this has never happened before.”

“What, watching youtube on school equipment with the logo of another school on them?”

“No, the samples being stolen,” he murmurs, “usually, nobody would dare to deprive us Bullworth kids of our fun with dissection.”

“Shame,” Duncan sighed. He’s only eaten a breakfast bar that he bought from Yum-Yum Market on the way to school, but he can already feel hunger pestering him, and it’s hours away from lunch and Edna’s delicious meals…

But at least Cornelius is with him the first lesson to stave off boredom. Dr Slawter isn’t as strict on dilly-dallying as most teachers are, saying nothing when he saw the pair writing notes together while everyone squealed and felt grossed out by the videos shown to them. If the homework studies are going to be cancelled, then they might as well do bits of maths, which Duncan struggled with. He flushed with embarrassment when confronted with a simple multiplication question - the simplest bloody thing in a high school - but then Cornelius ripped a page from his graph notepad before creating a smart graph displaying what numbers multiply into what when crossed with others.

Duncan has never felt himself fall in love so hard all over again before.

* * *

 

Duncan was glad that today went as normal despite the tense atmosphere. Because of the renewed curfew, many students already went straight home or the library such as most of the nerds.

“I mean it, Corny, go hang out with your pals. I’ll just head to the Bullworth library and hope that they don’t kick me out for wearing this uniform.”

“There’s no G&G session because the others are already getting loaded with homework,” Cornelius nudged his elbow as they walk down the stairs together. “We can always hang out in my room at the dorm for an hour and do our own study session.”

“Or we can make out there,” he said with a grin and the nerd almost missed a step.

“Duncan!”

“Just kidding! Although you sure are jumpy over a little joke~”

“Don’t make me buy you that Aquaberry skirt as your only Christmas present!” he scolded him, ears burning hotter than Dragonforce.

“Only if YOU get to see me wear it.”

“You’re unbelievable!” Cornelius burst and skipped ahead of him towards the doors, but smiled to himself when he hears his boyfriend cry out in panic.

“I’m kidding! Honest! You know I love a good joke.”

“If you need a good joke-”

A loud scream shocked their thoughts. It sounds nothing like any of the students that go here. It came from the ground-floor left wing…

“The teacher’s lounge!” They exclaimed and hurried towards the staff room.

The door swung open as they burst in, seeing Mrs Phillips sitting back in a chair with a bloody spray all over her lovely ivory turtleneck, while Mr Galloway helplessly tried to daub the blood with handfuls of tissues.

Cornelius made a choked noise, but Duncan bravely stepped forward, hands balled into fists.

“What happened, Mrs Phillips?!” he demanded, glaring at their nervous English teacher, but Mrs Phillips quickly stood up holding her perfume bottle.

“Wait, wait! I’m not hurt, boys, but I’ll definitely hurt whoever tampered with my Chanel No.7!”

With venomous contempt that frightened all the males in the room, she ripped the head off the bottle and a pungent smell instantly filled the room. Everybody gagged and she quickly shoved the lid back on like it was a cork while her husband stumbled to yank open a window.

“NOT a stinkbomb!” Cornelius gasped.

Duncan took longer to recover from the foul smell as he took it from Mrs Phillip’s hand. It’s her usual perfume bottle, beautiful purple crystal-cut glass with a price tag that you wouldn’t afford on a normal teacher’s salary, except it’s obvious that somebody has played a cruel joke on one of the best teachers in school.

“It looks like blood,” Mr Galloway said worriedly as she took her sweater off, showing her blouse beneath. “Maybe I should take that to the police…”

“Hang on…” Duncan frowned, peering at the neck of the bottle where he saw a tiny strand of hair and picked it, holding it to the light. “This hair looks weird.” Cornelius reached over, taking it from his hand to peer through his glasses.

“Wait, this looks like rat hair.”

Mrs Phillips tried not to scream again, only shuddering as Mr Galloway draped his jacket around her shoulders while they gave him an interested glance.

“Dr Slawter ranted that his rats have gone missing,” he said, eyes growing wide. “You don’t think that-”

“I do, sir, and so does Duncan.”

Remembering his act of vandalism on the library with the whole ‘rats in the crate’ prank years ago, his ears burned. The bite scar on his hand seemed to throb at the memory.

“That was one time…” he mumbled.

“Duncan?”

“I mean - I agree, that does look like rat hair. So maybe the blood inside the bottle came from the missing rats. Or unless it’s everything of a rat…”

“That’ll be enough, we understand,” Mr Galloway quickly spoke up, feeling faint. “Please just take that away. We’ll tell Dr Crabblesnitch about your find and have a lock installed on the staff room door. As if today couldn’t get any worse…”

“Absolutely,” Cornelius suddenly spoke up, “we’ll even conduct tests if necessary, with permission from Dr Watts to use what we need in the chemistry lab!”

But Mr Galloway quickly shook his head.

“I’m afraid that because of the bomb threats, no students are allowed to go inside the classroom on their own without supervision.”

“Then can’t you come with us, sir?!” Duncan quickly begged. “I dunno what Corny’s going to do, but he’s super-smart with this kind of stuff!”

“Everybody knows how gifted Cornelius is, Duncan, but curfew is at 6pm and we’ve finished our shifts for today,” Mrs Phillips explained gently, wiping her forehead. “It’ll be a silly prank anyway, Cornelius. You won’t need to work yourself up, not when you’re in your final year in this academy. You should be busy revising, and so should you, Duncan.”

The young men just glanced at each other, sharing the same unspoken agreement before muttering “Yes, Mrs Phillips…”

“Good, now be on your way, the building is going to be closed up early as well, so will the satellite buildings.”

* * *

As soon as they went outside, Duncan groaned.

“That perfume prank would’ve been hilarious if it wasn’t done to Mrs Phillips.”

“I agree,” Cornelius muttered, staring at the bottle in his hand. “But I DO have a chemistry set in my room we can tinker about with, but Constantinos might bitch up a storm at the smell…”

“So how about we do it outside?”

“Can’t, the police patrols will think WE’RE bomb-makers if they see us with a chem kit.”

“Can’t we poison Constantinos and hide him in the Bullhorns mascot suit and make it look like he’s gone for a nap?”

The nerd burst out laughing and Duncan smiled.

“I love that you’re like a chaotic element in a perfect equation - you just seem to know what to say to shake things up and uncover unexpected answers.”

“Babe, I’m happy to be your chaotic element.”

Then they fell quiet, just gazing at each other while feeling a mix of pride, closeness and a strong reluctance to part for the day.

“Hey… speaking of answers…” Cornelius suddenly spoke up, holding the bottle onto its side, “maybe I’ll simply take fingerprints and compare to the students in this school.”

“Good idea, but mine, Mrs Phillip’s, yours and Mr Galloway’s will be on there.”

“I’ll try anyway, it’s not like I have anything else to do tonight.”

“I do!” Duncan said proudly, “I got that job at Yum-Yum Market. The dude doesn’t talk that much, but he’s laid-back.”

“In that case, don’t let me hold you back. I’ll see you tomorrow with my results.”

“Good one, officer,” Duncan jokes before leaning in to hug him and they high-fived. “See you, Corny.”

“See you tomorrow!”

In spite of the heavy police presence near the school, Duncan made it straight to Yum-Yum Market without any interruptions. The clerk handed him the apron before heading out the back to smoke weed, but the schoolgoer has already finished dusting the shelves and tidied the same places 5 times while serving only about 15 customers in the past few hours. He wondered if the townspeople are worried about the bomb threat to the school, but he shrugged it off. A hoax is a hoax. Besides, he already had enough excitement in his life to-

The door suddenly slammed open, almost making Duncan shit himself as Leon stormed inside furiously. For a brief second happiness surged in his veins upon seeing his old friend, but then he deflated at the angry look in his face.

“Leon? What’s-”

“Don’t play dumb!” he suddenly ranted, pointing at him. “You think I’M the one who made that bomb threat to the stupid school, didn’t you?!”

“What?” Duncan stared at him, shaking his head slowly. “No, man! I didn’t! You ain’t that kind of guy!”

“You told the cops I did!” Leon blasted, slamming his hands on the counter, “those bastards tore up my mom’s trailer and dragged me to a station TEN MILES AWAY FROM HERE and tried to get me to confess! I only got out because mom bailed me out with her side-job money, but now I owe HER with stupid chores and that’ll take me until I’m dead from old age!”

“I didn’t tell, I swear, man!” Duncan pleaded, “and you ain’t that kind of guy! You can fight like hell but you’d never blow up a goddamn building!”

“Like hell I would!” Leon spat at him, “now I wish I did for real because SOMEONE told the papers in this town about my arrest and I can’t even go outside without a disguise because people will throw stuff at me!”

“Leon, I’m sorry that this happened to you, but I swear I didn’t tell the police it was you! I didn’t even KNOW there was a bomb threat until they told us this morning!”

“I don’t believe that shit!” the other male snarled, clenching his hand into a fist before relaxing and his lips twisted into a sneer. “It’s that nerd, isn’t it?”

Cornelius.

“NO!” Duncan snapped, making him jump. “Keep him out of this, man! He’s just a twig! He wouldn’t harm a fly even if it pissed in his buzz coke!”

“But he’s a nerd,” Leon grumbled, glaring at him, “we both know what those bastards are like in their groups, plotting and making pranks all the time. What have they done for YOU when the bullies tore up your cards? Nothing!”

“And what did YOU do when they tore up my cards, huh?!” Duncan yelled and he flinched. Bingo.

“I-I beat them all up!”

“And got your ass kicked because we were BOTH weak kids who shouldn’t have dropped out of school in the first place!”

“Your slut of a mom stopped paying for your schooling and walked out on you, THAT’S why you left!”

“SAY THAT AGAIN!” Duncan screamed and leapt over the desk to punch his face, and Leon stumbled back against the rack of vegetables, knocking the boxes over and he slipped onto his backside, bruised apples rolling around him.

Breathing heavily, Duncan’s steely glare fixed on him as he loomed over him before pointing at the door.

“Get out! If I see you in here again, I’m calling the police!”

Stunned, Leon stood up, staring at him as blood trickled from his nostril. His expression churned, and his new glare filled with intense animosity.

“This isn’t the end,” he growled, pointing at him. “When I’m done, you’ll be back where you belong and you’ll see who your REAL friends are!”

Duncan said nothing, keeping his gaze steady as the other male stumbled through the door and silence filled the shop once more.


End file.
